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I-45 City will have total eclipse for more than 4 minutes; twice as long as 2017 and more than Dallas, Houston or Austin

SYNERGIZE Corsicana, a marketing group formed prior to the pandemic to share marketing ideas across all business sectors, has taken on its first major project:  the 2024 Solar Eclipse.  The eclipse will move from the Mexico border up through Texas, traveling along I-45 for slightly more than one hour.  During that time, people seeing the total eclipse here will experience one of nature’s most unique events, described as the Super Bowl of astronomical events, and one that will not occur here again until November 15, 2077.  The last time Corsicana was in the path of a total solar eclipse was July 29, 1878.

The Solar Eclipse Committee is led by Amy Tidwell and Susan Wilson, with expert guidance by Dr. Bruce Brazell, Planetarium Director of ºÚÁÏÉç and Professor, along with the marketing expertise of Stacie Sipes, Marketing Director of ºÚÁÏÉç campuses.  While nearby cities will also experience total darkness during the solar eclipse of similar lengths, only Corsicana has a Planetarium, around which key events and elements of the eclipse will take place.

The Solar Eclipse project is funded by the Tourism budget allocated by the Corsicana Visitors’ Bureau.  A custom 2024 eclipse logo is under development, which will be provided free to local vendors and businesses to capitalize on the possibly thousands of people who will visit Corsicana in the day or two prior to the eclipse. The official date and time of the eclipse is Monday, April 8, 2024 at 1:40 p.m.

A dedicated website, also under development, will feature a calendar listing available free to any event promoter, venue, meeting / parking area and other business entities to promote events related to the solar eclipse.  The website will also promote where to stay overnight, things to do, shopping and dining.

The Solar Eclipse Committee researched the path of the 2017 Solar Eclipse and how cities were affected.  In the state of Nebraska, it was estimated approximately 708,000 people traveled to the state for the eclipse.  In Hopkinsville, Kentucky (population 31,000) about 50 miles north of Nashville, an estimated 116,000 people visited.

The Committee plans an asset production phase of logo, website and procurement of solar viewing glasses and other merchandise for the next 12 months, and an active marketing and public relations plan will begin approximately 18 months prior to the total solar eclipse.

The Committee includes representatives from the city, education, health, hotels and hospitality, business, religion, marketing and public relations, the field of astronomy and the arts.  Anyone interested in participating in the three-year project is encouraged to contact Amy Tidwell, Main Street and Director of Tourism at atidwell@corsicanatx.gov or call 903-654-4851.

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Press Contact: Susan Wilson, susan.wilson@susanwilsonmarketing.com, 480-824-3015