Excitement, anticipation, worry, hype and – most importantly – planning are ramping up as the Monday, Aug. 21, total solar eclipse approaches.
All county public schools have called off classes; local and state law enforcement agencies are gearing up for traffic of epic proportions; first responders are planning the best way to deploy forces to handle traffic, heat and other crises.
Local decision-makers expect a huge influx of visitors to the county, some from around the world, and the logistics could be daunting.
“We are expecting people from NASA, National Geographic, the History Channel and most news channels,” said Eric Leonard of De Soto, one of the organizers of the countywide eclipse task force working to ensure public safety on the day. “We’ll have people from England, the Netherlands and Canada for sure; we started getting calls at the library and the Chamber of Commerce way last fall.
“The latest figures that came down from St. Louis are that 10,000 to 40,000 might descend on our little town that weekend. But we just can’t know until that day.”
All of Jefferson County is in the “path of totality” for the eclipse, but De Soto is dead center.
A bright, sunny day could make the eclipse one of the most amazing events in Jefferson County’s recorded history, but clouds or rain could blunt the full experience.
Either way, though, Jefferson County residents will have a front-row seat for the show, and they’re planning a hundred different ways to enjoy it.
When the moon passes between Earth and the sun on Aug. 21, it will cast a round shadow on our planet that will travel in a diagonal line from Oregon to South Carolina. Those inside that 75-mile-wide shadow of totality are in for an experience last encountered in Jefferson County in 1442.
The sun will slowly be blocked out, until all that remains visible is the corona, or bright outer atmosphere, and will remain completely obscured for more than two minutes before it gradually comes back into view.
“It’s going to be so awesome,” said Don Ficken, a former Festus resident who is chairman of the St. Louis Eclipse 2017 Task Force. “I mean, this is literally a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Party on
Several local municipalities are planning multi-day festivals around the eclipse.
“We decided to forego our usual July 4th celebration this year,” Herculaneum Mayor Bill Haggard said. “Our thought was, this eclipse is a big deal, a once-in-a-lifetime event, so let’s celebrate it instead.”
■ The Herculaneum event, which runs Saturday, Aug. 19, through Monday, Aug. 21, will feature a parade, fireworks, a 5K run, car show, live music, concessions and other activities. The city is the only NASA-sanctioned viewing site in Jefferson County.
■ A similar festival in Festus will begin on Friday, Aug. 18, and will also include a petting zoo, a woodcarving demonstration and a scavenger hunt. A number of science activities are planned, and the St. Louis Science Center plans to broadcast the eclipse from Festus back to viewing parties at the center, where the eclipse will only be partial.
■ In Arnold, the eclipse festival runs from Saturday to Monday, and will feature a “Back to the Future” car show, a Fun in the Sun Elliptical Run, Mad About Science Fun Booths, a showing of “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial,” and nighttime telescope viewing.
The city will also offer food trucks, a farmers market, a bluegrass festival, pony rides, kids’ activities, concessions and a Moon Walk dance contest.
Lots going on
Leading up to Eclipse Day, there are several things planned to whet the appetite for the fun to come. The Mobile Dome Planetarium, a 16-by-16-foot, 10-foot-high mobile HD theater, will be at the Herculaneum High School Theater lobby on Friday and at the Crystal City Library on Monday. A car cruise is planned in De Soto for Saturday night, and the De Soto Police and Fire departments are jointly offering a movie night Sunday evening.
On the day of the eclipse, there will be dozens of viewing sites around the county from which residents can get a good view of the spectacle – weather permitting, of course.
“I contacted the National Weather Service and got a printout of weather conditions going back 10 years,” Haggard said. “And it hasn’t been bad weather on that date. So, we are hoping.”
There will be all-day viewing events in the city of Kimmswick, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro and at Jefferson College in Hillsboro. Libraries in De Soto, Festus and Crystal City will hold viewing parties, as will the Windsor Branch, Arnold Branch and Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library. An event is also planned at the Eureka Hills Branch in that city.
Viewing parties will be held at several local churches, on the grounds of American Legion and other organizations’ headquarters and on some school campuses.
Social media is abuzz with individuals making last-minute plans for eclipse parties, complete with Sunspot Sangria and Moon Pies.
Numerous locations will offer commemorative eclipse glasses, T-shirts and other memorabilia. The U.S. Post Office in June released a special Solar Eclipse stamp, made with thermochromic ink so it reacts to the heat in your fingers, changing from an image of a darkened moon to one brilliantly lit.
Janel Thomas, a Herculaneum native who now works at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland, will lead a NASA-sponsored viewing event and a question-and-answer session in her hometown on the day of the eclipse.
“I know, I’m a big weather nerd,” she said with a laugh. “But oh my gosh – I am so excited!”
For comprehensive information on the eclipse, visit the St. Louis Eclipse 2017 Task Force website at www.stlouiseclipse2017.org or eclipse2017.nasa.gov. Some good maps of the eclipse path can be found at greatamericaneclipse.org.