Highlighting the Riverfront Park area in downtown St. Joseph and its historical significance is the goal of an event this weekend.

Tim Doyle is the pastor at Restoration Church in downtown St. Joseph and is part of the effort to clean up and shine a spotlight on the Riverfront Park area that has been neglected.

“The casino moved north and that park has sat abandoned since the ’90s. When we first started going down there, there was still flood mud from the flood of ‘93, it’s been that long, and it wasn’t even being mowed and maintained,” Doyle said. “So here we have this beautiful river walk trail that heads up to Remington Nature Center, but at the southern anchor was this place that had just kind of gotten scary and in the absence of a plan, not only did it fall into disrepair, but other things were going on that really did not speak well of our city.”

Doyle said about four years ago is when the process started of cleaning up and mowing the area.

“Over the years, we’ve just begun to see this transformation. Now, granted, it’s nothing like I wish it were, but it’s certainly a less scary place for people to come,” Doyle said. “While we’ve been there doing that work, it’s just been amazing to me that we meet people from all over the country. They come to that place to see where the Oregon and California trails began and that’s the significance of that spot of history.”

Doyle said the upcoming RiverFest event this weekend at the park will feature music, food, activities for kids and more. Also members from the Oregon and California Trails Association will be there to share stories of the history of the Riverfront area.

“It’s going to be a free event, just a fun time to go down and celebrate St. Joseph’s history,” Doyle said.

RiverFest begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Riverfront Park off of Francis Street in downtown St. Joseph.

For more information on Riverfront Park and RiverFest, visit the Riverfront Rescue Facebook page or the event website at riverfest.site.