The hushed silence was felt as downtown Toledo as onlookers were engrossed; watching as the moon began to align with the sun, the area wrapping in darkness.
A crowd of over 6,000 stood awaiting for the beautiful solar ring to peek from behind the moon, eclipse glasses on. Visitors came from all over the world to celebrate the phenomenon.
Imagination Station, a science museum in Ohio, hosted an enormous viewing party on April 8, 2024 along with them several other frequented areas hosted viewing parties including the Toledo Zoo. Patrons by the thousands, flocked to the streets to watch as our precious sun was covered by the moon.
Marybeth and her daughter Olivia had traveled all the way from Arizona, “We decided to take them out of school and thought we should stop here on our way to visit family in Ann Arbor MI, we decided this would be a great opportunity.”
Communities from all over gathered in the grassy areas to watch the beautiful natural phenomenon. For lunch several food trucks varying from Beastro Burger, Jikoni Toledo and Tatros Concessions lined the Maumee riverfront while party goers waited for totality. Activities were set up in the grassy spaces outside of the science center for families to enjoy; including bubble stations and a crafter table to make rockets and pinhole projectors. People from all over gathered around to celebrate as the anticipation grew for the much awaited event to begin. Families laid in the grass, putting on their glasses as the moon began to cover the sun around 1:56pm.
Children ran around playing tag, teens recorded dancing tiktoks, and others used their sunglasses to get photos of the eclipse. Though, as the area began to darken a great pause with silence, with occasional children yelling “its getting dark,” took over.
At 3:13pm you could feel the excitement as the crowd began to cheer, the beautiful white solar flares shining bright.
If you missed out on this opportunity, the next total solar eclipse is expected to come until August 2045.
