The Historic Triangle buzzed with excitement Monday afternoon as residents and visitors prepared to view a much-anticipated solar eclipse.
While Williamsburg was not in the eclipse’s path of totality — the moon only covered 88 percent of the sun in the Historic Triangle — thousands of people gathered together for the event.
Solar eclipses can be seen from the various parts of Earth every few years, but Monday’s total solar eclipse is the first to pass over Virginia since 1918.
Several public locations hosted eclipse viewing parties, including William & Mary, York River State Park and the Williamsburg and James City County libraries.
More than 600 people visited the James City County Library in Norge to view the eclipse Monday, according to library spokesman Barry Trott.
Among the crowd was Cub Scout Pack 1932 and the Pack’s committee chair Pete Dreher.
“They all earned their eclipse patch,” Dreher said of the scouts.
“It’s fun for the kids,” he added. “We had some science demonstrations — the relative size of the sun and moon and showing shadows, so the kids would understand what’s going on.”
For those without proper eyewear, viewing the eclipse required some creativity. Mike and Nancy Wilson, tourists from Philadelphia, made their own cardboard pinhole viewer with 15 holes.
“This is the safe way to do it,” Mike Wilson said. “I want to be able to see the next one when it comes … It was so beautiful”
Meanwhile, across town from the library, viewers at the William & Mary campus were also getting creative with their eclipse-watching techniques.
Over 150 people gathered in front of the Earl Gregory Swem Library by 2:15 p.m., just half an hour before the eclipse was scheduled to start.
Students, faculty and campus visitors used binoculars, sheets of paper, shoe boxes, their hands and even Ritz crackers to view the eclipse safely.
Four William & Mary students, Brianna Bonat, Madura Gill, David Allen and Jake Feldermann, got their sunglasses about a month in advance.
The sunglasses were given to the students by Allen’s father, who is friends with an optometrist.
Although the students are not die-hard astronomy enthusiasts, they arrived around 2 p.m. to prepare for the eclipse.
“We didn’t have anything else to do, so we came here because it was an open opportunity,” Allen, 20, said. “You need to take advantage of life’s opportunities.”
The next total solar eclipse in the United States will occur in 2024. Bonat, 21, said it was “cool” another eclipse opportunity is so soon.
The 2024 eclipse was already on the mind of Juliana Brause, who said she’s ready to drive to St. Louis, Mo. to her uncle’s house to be in the complete darkness of the path of totality.
York River State Park manager Jon Tustin said the park handed out 600 pairs of special eclipse viewing glasses. He had a few extra staff on hand to help with the nearly 700 people who showed up at the park to watch the eclipse.
Juliana Brause was at the state park with her father, mother, and two brothers when the sun dimmed and the air cooled.
“This is insane,” said Brian Brause, Juliana Brouse’s father and a 60-year-old federal contractor from Williamsburg, referring to the 700 people who turned out for the viewing at the park. “All the kids being interested, often you don’t see children interested.”
For Williamsburg resident Mark Donnis, the eclipse was a chance to bring people of all ages together, not just children.
“In the last few weeks we’ve had so much civil unrest,” said Donnis, who was returning a DVD to the James City County Library when the eclipse happened. “It’s so nice that we can set all that aside and the universe is bringing us all together. This is a relief, cosmic relief from social strife.”
