By Butch Burney
March 26, 2024 – We have less than two weeks before the Great Total Solar Eclipse on April 8!
Here are a few items we want our residents to know:
- The crowd we have is weather dependent. Yes, we are expecting a lot of visitors – thousands – if the weather is sunny. If it’s raining, we won’t see the people driving here, so we don’t yet know what to expect, crowd-wise.
- Don’t panic. This is a one-day affair. There is no need to hoard all the water, toilet paper and milk. Do your normal shopping, just do it before Sunday or Monday. Get your gas before the weekend, but you don’t need to fill up a 50-gallon tank for reserve. It’s one day!
- Be friendly and patient. Visitors don’t know our town and don’t know our traffic patterns, so be friendly and helpful. We want them to come back to Sulphur Springs and tell their friends what a great experience they had here.
- Enjoy it! For most of us, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event to live right on the centerline of a Total Solar Eclipse.
- Mingle with our visitors the weekend before the eclipse. We will have a concert from 1 p.m. until 9 or 10 downtown on Saturday, there will be a vendors market at The Venue at 219, restaurants and retail shops will be open, Heritage Park will be in full regalia. Come out, shop, eat and mingle.
- Check out the website TotalEclipseSSTx.com for all events, parking locations, etc. for the big weekend.
Need glasses for the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse? Want a T-shirt and sticker? We know where you can get them.
We have eclipse merchandise at the Chamber of Commerce, including T-shirts, stickers and glasses. With tens of thousands of visitors targeting Hopkins County for April 8, don’t wait until the last minute.
The Chamber has an eclipse website, TotalEclipseSSTx.com, in which you can upload information about events, attractions, lodging, retail shops and restaurants. That will be the information clearinghouse for what is happening in Hopkins County on April 8 and the weekend leading up to that day.
We will be hosting a free concert on Saturday, April 6, downtown, featuring The Paper Dolls, Jason Waldon and the Alibis and Dubb and the Luv Machines. Plus, there will be vendors’ market at The Venue at 219 that weekend.
Check out the website, upload information and get prepared!
Chamber Golf Tournament
Registration is now open for the 35th Annual Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament, which is set for Friday, May 3. Teams can register online at the Chamber website: HopkinsChamber.org, or we can email you the registration form.
The tournament is limited to 43 teams – 18 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. Tee times are based on first-come basis.
The cost for a team of six is $750, which includes a morning or afternoon tee time, three carts and six lunches.
Coffee and Conversation
Hopkins County Abstract will host the next networking event, Coffee and Conversation, from 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday, April 4, at their office on Oak Avenue.
You don’t have to be a Chamber member to attend. It is open to everyone in the community.
It’s a great chance to network and meet others in a casual setting.
55+ Health Fair
The ROC at First Baptist Church will be the host for the 55+ Health Fair on Wednesday, April 10, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Included in the fair will be therapy, blood sugar check, pre-need funeral plans, medical equipment, home health information and more.
For more information, call Karon Weatherman at 903-243-3255.
Solar Eclipse Art Exhibit
The Hopkins County Infinity 4-H Club is coordinating a Solar Eclipse Art Exhibit with age divisions separated in 7-under, 8-12, 13-18 and 19 and over.
Entries will be accepted through Aprilf 12, at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office.
The maximum entry size is 16×20 inches. Dsiplay dates will be April 15-19 in the Extension Office classroom.
All Hopkins County resident are eligible to submit art. Science and art teachers are encouraged to promote this opportunity with students.
For more information, contact Lisa Sprague at 903-885-3443 or Johanna Hicks at 903-243-0425.
Plant Sale
The Sulphur Springs Church of the Nazarene will have a Plant sale April 4-6 at the church located at 1300 South League St.
