The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
HISTORIC ECLIPSE
Oneida: Hundreds attend library viewing party to see celestial event
ONEIDA, N.Y. » Seeing Monday’s historic eclipse was so important Waterville resident Stanley Cesaire that he brought his family to Oneida to see it.
“This place is real nice,” he said, standing at the OPL’s future building site on Monday with daughter Marierose. He said he called around to multiple places looking for viewing glasses, and Oneida was the only place he could find handing them out.
It was especially important because Marierose, who is homeschooled, is a huge science buff, and the historic event was a great learning opportunity.
“She’s almost an astronaut major,” her father said. “She loves everything about space.”
Marierose, 5, said the eclipse was “cool” and was excited to be able to see it. The last time she saw an eclipse was on her mother’s birthday, when a lunar eclipse took place, she said.
She wants to be a scientist when she grows up because then she gets to ask a lot of questions and learn about all different kinds of subjects.
Jackson Krol, 11, thought the eclipse was “awesome” and was excited to see the event. His favorite things about science, he said, is being able to predict what’s going to happen.
For other eclipse-viewers, the day was a chance for the community to come together.
“I think it’s great for the community for things like this to happen, to be together like this,” said Oneida resident Josh Peters, himself a lover of science.
“It’s a one lifetime event, you know.”
He said Oneida could benefit from having more events like the library’s solar eclipse viewing party, where people can share in similar interests and spread diversity throughout the community.
Steve Bender last saw a solar eclipse about 30 years ago while working for the highway department, though he’s seen several lunar eclipses inhis time. Giving the community a chance to gather together was a “good idea.”
“The eclipse is absolutely a celestial event of untold importance,” said OPL Assistant Director Tom Murray. The library received about 1,000 solar viewing glasses from NASA, and he helped hand out at least 700 of them to those who wanted to partake in the event. “It’s an astonishingly rare event in our latitude.”
He said the eclipse was an event that helps people “stand together in awe of the workings of the universe,” and was happy to be “part of the effort” to educate the public about the eclipse along with NASA.
Bringing the community together is a “big part of our community belief,” said OPL Youth Services Coordinator Megan Gillander. “It’s a big event. It’s something historical for our area, and we love doing science programs, so what better way to do so?”
She said people have been calling the library for about twoweeks looking for glasses, andwas grateful for the donation NASA made.
“Families were looking for a way to share this with their kids,” she said.
“This is outstanding,” said Mayor Leo Matzke, who was gathered at the partywith his family. “This is what community is all about.”
Hewould love to seemore events like the library’s, including a city-wide picnic someday.
“It brings a sense of community,” he said.