Local man hopes for Point Park sunset celebration to become weekly gathering
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PARKERSBURG -- A local man hopes an informal gathering at Point Park to celebrate the setting sun becomes a weekly event.
Dan Kemper is calling the informal gathering the "Parkersburg Sunset Celebration."
People can gather at the Point around 7 p.m., bring a chair and a cooler and socialize with friends and others and wait for the sunset, around 8:15 p.m., Kemper said. It's a beautiful sight at the park, he said.
"And we'll watch the sun go down," Kemper said.
Mark Lewis, president of the Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Point Park is a beautiful place. The offices of the bureau are on the other side of the floodwall. He supports using what is available to enhance and generate local events for residents, not just tourists.
"I'm all in favor of taking advantages of the resources that we have," Lewis said.
Kemper said he has attended such events at other places where gatherings to watch the sunset turn into a party including, music, food and fellowship. He hopes that happens here and becomes a weekly activity on Saturdays during the summer.
A popular celebration is held nightly at Key West, Fla., and features performers, magicians, clowns and other entertainers. Thousands of people watch the sun set into the Gulf of Mexico, among those over the years have been Mark Twain and Tennessee Williams.
Nothing is organized and there's no structure for Saturday, Kemper said. Just show up, meet friends and neighbors and watch the sun go down, like sitting on a porch watching a sunset in the 1950s, he said.
If it rains, there probably won't be a gathering, but it looks like clear weather on Saturday, Kemper said.
"I checked the weather and it said 'good,'" Kemper said.