All eyes to the sky: Wayne County turns out for the eclipse
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on August 21, 2017 7:49 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Madison Casey, 7, and her mother Kimberly watch the solar eclipse Monday at the Wayne Center through special viewing glasses. Families attending the homeschool conference took a break to watch the rare event.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Katie Galbaby, 10, holds a piece of paper with a small hole in it to create a shadow that mimics the shape of the solar eclipse at the Wayne Center.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Phil Duff lays in the grass at the Wayne Center with his daughters Maggie, 6, and Bella, 10, Monday as they watch the Solar Eclipse.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A group of people watching the solar eclipse through special viewing glasses at the Wayne Center Monday look up at the sky as it gets near its peak coverage.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Pictured is the solar eclipse in a crescent shape, at around 93 percent coverage.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Thomas Peterson, 9, and his mother Dee of Dudley use special eclipse glasses to view Monday's partial solar eclipse during a viewing party at the Wayne County Public Library on east Ash Street. The glasses were attached to paper plates for the children to provide added protection.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Addie Olson, 7, uses a homemade eclipse viewer. She was among the children to attend Monday's eclipse viewing party hosted by the Wayne County Public Library on East Ash Street.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Becky Taylor, right, shows a group of Wayne Early Middle College High School students how a pinhole projector works. Taylor is a retired educator who returned to become a mentor to WEMCHS students.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Sunlight filtered through the leaves of a tree create an image of the moon crossing in front of the sun.
As the moon passed in front of the sun Monday, many people in Wayne County -- children as well as adults -- had their eyes to the sky.
The Wayne County Public Library invited children and their parents to learn about eclipses, do an eclipse-related craft and, at around 2:45 p.m., watch the peak of the solar event.
Around 70 people attended the event, most of them children.
D'Markus James, 10, was impressed as he stood outside of the library in front of Ash Street when the moon covered nearly 93 percent of the sun.
"I like the way it looks," he said.
"It kind of looks like a toenail."
His mother, Matria James, laughed.
"I am just glad I got to share this with my kids," she said smiling as D'Markus, D'Majae, 10, Zyhmeeair, 10, and Teny'ny, 5, had their faces toward the sky.
Christina Statham was awestruck. She said the eclipse was "pretty awesome," while 10-year-old Artasia Gordon said simultaneously, "I have never seen it before, it's so pretty."
The phenomenon coincided with the first Wayne County Homeschooler Fair, and organizers took that into account, incorporating solar eclipse crafts, such as pinhole cameras and chalk drawings, in the kids room during the all-day event.
Some 100-pairs of glasses were purchased and sold to patrons by the sponsors, Seymour Johnson Christian Homeschool Educators.
Natalie Moon and Katie Galbavy, both 10, tested out their specially-formulated eclipse glasses outside Wayne Center on Monday afternoon.
"I have never been in a solar eclipse," said Katie. "I'm pretty excited. When I first looked at it, everything was black except the sun."
She had a bit of an expectation for the day, being a fan of vampire movies and all.
"I have been watching 'My Babysitter's a Vampire,' how the sky turns black and the moon is red," she said. "I'm wondering if that's going to happen."
"It was all black," announced her 11-year-old brother, Kevin Galvaby, a few minutes later as the moon began to overshadow the sun.
Nathan Moon, 9, described the sight at that point as "like a cookie without the chocolate chips."
Eight-year-old Isaac Therrien wasn't sure what was going to happen when he first headed outside.
"I expected it to look like it was actually nighttime," he said. "It looked like a halfmoon, a crescent moon, except orangish yellow."
Although the area grew more shadowy but was never immersed in darkness, those who waited it out still 'oohed' and 'ahhhed' as the clock ticked down.
With just a tiny sliver of the sun poking through, Nathan Griffin, 10, said, "It's like someone threw a fingernail shaving up there."
Wayne Community College also got in on the eclipse action during the Foundation for Wayne Community College's Campus Fund Drive.
Organizers handed out snacks and glasses for faculty and staff to view the event.
The fund drive is the first in a series of fundraising events the foundation will hold, and foundation leaders moved it to an earlier date than usual to have it coincide with the eclipse.
Hundreds of people showed up, sharing 75 pairs of eclipse glasses between them so that most everyone could get a look.
From 1:30 to 3:30, the foundation passed out eclipse-themed snacks such as Moon Pies, Milky Way bars and Sun Chips.
Becky Taylor was surrounded by Wayne Early Middle College High School students during the event, showing them a pinhole projector.
"I don't actually teach here," she said.
"I retired and came back as a mentor to the kids from the early college, and I'm just grabbing them as they come out in groups to let them see the eclipse."
-- Phyllis Moore, Joey Pitchford and Melinda Harrell contributed to this report.