Family Day Draws Thousands to Kirksville and Campus

The long-running tradition of Family Day at Truman State University continued on Saturday with events for students and their families.

The Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival and the Bulldogs’ first home football game of the season were the centerpieces of the event, which takes place every September.

Heidi Templeton, Truman public relations director, said Family Day has been celebrated annually for her entire 26-year tenure. She said more than 550 tickets were sold for the on-campus cookout alone, and there were thousands more people in town for the Red Barn Festival and other events.

“Families were walking down Franklin Street, up and back,” Templeton said. “Everybody was smiling and having a good time.”

Templeton said the goal of Family Day is to give parents the opportunity to touch base with their students after their first few weeks of school. She said Family Day is generally held 4-6 weeks after school starts, which is a good time for parents to check on how classes and other things are going.

Truman’s first home football game of the year — against the Missouri University of Science and Technology Miners — was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on the evening of Family Day, but was delayed for more than two hours by lightning and rain. Templeton said the weather was good until about 6:45 p.m. She said families were participating in on-campus activities and attending the Red Barn Festival in great weather, but it was unfortunate that the football game had to be delayed.