Events in downtown Ashland being planned for total solar eclipse weekend

BalloonFest is a storied tradition for Ashland County residents, but "MoonFest" soon will be here.

According to Mayor Matt Miller, Freer Field will be available for public viewing for the once-in-a-lifetime event hitting the county on April 8.

“The city is working with our friends at the Ashland County Park District and on the day of the eclipse we are encouraging any Ashland County residents who want to join us at Freer Field,” Miller said. “We encourage people to bring their special eclipse glasses for safe viewing and we will be able to watch the eclipse together."

He said there will be plenty of parking and viewing areas and "we will even have some extra rest room facilities brought in to accommodate a lot of people.”

Miller also talked about how the unique event is having an impact on the area.

“We are taking the position that we want to make this special for our people who live here in the city and in Ashland County,” he said. “We are going to do our best to try prepare special events that will make it even more exciting for the folks who live here.”

Gauging the number of people is about as unpredictable as the weather

Miller, like everyone involved in the event, talked about the quality of the event being determined by the weather.

“If it should pass that it is a bright, clear sky that day, then we get lots of visitors that get to join in on our celebration,” Miller said. “But we are aiming our activities more to our hometown crowd than out of town guests.”

Miller said gauging the number of out of town guests is as nearly unpredictable as the weather.

“I have talked to representatives of communities that have seen this in the past and some have said they planned for tons of people and tons of people did not come," Miller said. "And then there are other locations where they had tons of people. So that makes it very difficult to figure out what that final answer will be be on the day of the eclipse.”

Plans in works for downtown Ashland entertainment

The mayor said talks with various businesses owners on Main Street have happened to plan possible activities throughout the weekend leading up to the eclipse.

“Those events would take place in downtown Ashland,” he said. “Details are still unfolding, but in initial discussions there have been conversations about having bands at Foundation Plaza throughout the weekend and other fun activities that are built around the eclipse.”

Radio station 106.1FM WVNO will get in on the event not seen in Ohio since 1806.

“They are putting together a whole playlist that will be on their station throughout the weekend. They are encouraging area listeners to tune in and hear the selections they have come up with the theme of eclipse," Miller said. "We can all probably imagine some of those songs. They will have other information and details and fun facts and so on.”

Law enforcement planning officer locations

Ashland County Sheriff's Capt. Donald Sims said plans include having more police presence at various locations around the county.

“Our plan is to have approximately six-eight deputies working that day during that time frame,” Sims said. “Since the eclipse is going to be around 3 o’clock we will be asking that our afternoon shift come in early and we will hold our day shift over. We will separate those units throughout the county near major highways and intersections to maintain and monitor traffic. It will also help to handle any incidents that may happen.”

He said plans will continue to evolve over the next 30 days.

“This is an ongoing event,” Sims said. “We will have another organizational meeting before the event on April 8. We are well aware of the hype going across the country for the eclipse that is coming through. Ashland County is in the totality of the scope of things and we are expecting an influx of people.

“We expect the local hotels and campgrounds to fill up so our focus is to work with the other entities throughout the county.”

Being prepared for a possible convergence of stargazers is highly recommended.

“With any event I’d pretty much say the same thing and that is with the local residents it would probably be a good idea to have at least a day’s stockpile of food,” Sims added. “Maybe even enough leading up to the event. Just in case there is a run on items and what is sold out would have to be replenished at some time.

“If our local residents can have a little bit of preparedness. I don’t think there is a need to go overboard, but I think always planning is the best method.”

Extension of spring break for Ashland City Schools

If the day is sunny and thousands of people make their way into Ashland County, getting students home from school during that 3 o’clock time frame could be difficult.

“Ashland City Schools has been shown projections and been given guidance from Emergency Management that our region will have a large influx of people trying to watch the path of the eclipse,” said Ashland City Schools Superintendent Steve Paramore. “The chance of large amounts of traffic those days could cause catastrophic delays in Ashland City Schools transportation offerings.

“Student safety is paramount here at Ashland City Schools and we do not want to take any chances that day with the uncertainty of what that day could bring to our area.”

Paramore added the day coincides with spring break for ACS.

“The cancellation of the day also just allowed our spring break to be extended by a day,” he said.

He also talked about the valuable educational opportunities the millennial event provides.

“The eclipse gives our classrooms plenty of opportunity to gain content knowledge of why this occurs,” he added. “The science behind it, the economic opportunities for our state and area. We can also use the eclipse as an opportunity to discuss social effects and governmental effects on a region.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland's Freer Field welcoming solar eclipse viewers April 8