Williams Baptist University is joining forces with Walnut Ridge Regional Airport and the Wings of Honor Museum to present entertainment before the upcoming eclipse. WBU’s fine arts groups will perform Sunday, April 7, and Monday, April 8, which is the day of the eclipse.
The Williams campus is adjacent to the airport and museum. The total eclipse will last three minutes and 50 seconds at that location, starting at 1:54 pm on April 8.
Williams will also be selling parking spots on its Eagle Farms the day of the eclipse, and the Williams Corner store will be open longer hours that weekend to accommodate visitors to the area.
WBU is hosting a special worship service at Manley Chapel on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The WBU Worship Team will lead the music, and Williams President Dr. Stan Norman will bring the message. Everyone is invited to the service. Manley Chapel is located on Midkiff Lane in the heart of the Williams campus.
Two of the university’s music groups will present concerts Sunday afternoon, also in Manley Chapel. The Williams Singers, WBU’s touring choir, will perform at 2:00 p.m. The WBU Band, which is a full instrumental ensemble, will perform at 3:00 p.m. Both performances are free, and all are invited.
Wings of Honor Museum will host a presentation by Edwin Faughn of Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Faughn’s lecture will be entitled “The Glorious Universe.” The museum is located at the airport.
WBU’s traveling drama team, The Cast, will perform at the museum at 7 p.m. Sunday, following Faughn’s presentation.
On Monday, the day of the eclipse, the WBU Worship Band will perform at 10 a.m. at the museum, followed by a performance from the Williams Jazz Band at 11 a.m.
On the WBU campus, Tri-Beta, the natural science honor society, will have a telescope set up with a projection screen in Midkiff Meadows, which is the lawn in front of Manley Chapel. There is no charge, but donations will be accepted for those who wish to support the organization.
Those looking for a good parking spot to view the eclipse can go to Eagle Farms, near the WBU campus on Hwy. 67. Parking spots will be $50 each, and the field is away from street lights with an unobstructed view. Proceeds will go toward scholarships in WBU’s Williams Works initiative.
For more information, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solar-eclipse-viewing-and-parking-tickets-836446934297?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Williams Corner, a gift shop located at Hwy. 67 and Fulbright Ave., will extend its hours on the weekend. The store will be open until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, and it will open from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, April 7. It will also be open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on the day of the eclipse.
Walnut Ridge Regional Airport has a 6,000-foot runway and two other runways of 5,000 feet each, as well as a large tarmac for parking aircraft. Hundreds of private planes are expected to land there to view the eclipse.
Williams is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge.