FORTVILLE – With not an empty seat to spare, community members of Fortville and from afar came together to witness the totality of the solar eclipse, an event that won’t happen again in Indiana for more than a century.
For Denver’s Garage Pizza and Brew, located on Broadway Street, the party started at approximately 11 a.m., kicking off their Solar Eclipse Party. Fred Fentz, owner of Denver’s Garage Pizza and Brew, said that even with the added tent for extra space people were standing around to grab a bite and enjoy the live music as they waited for the moon to pass over the sun.
“There’s not an empty seat over here, standing room only,” Fentz said. “It was packed over here, it still is.”
Fentz said they were able to completely fill their reservations for the event, handing out the free solar eclipse viewing glasses and continued to have walk-ins throughout the hours leading up to the moment many people have be talking about for months.
Being located right on Broadway Street, Fentz said many people mentioned to him that the location was great for outside events much like today. With the addition of the tent outside creating more covered seating, Fentz said earlier in the month that there are plans to have more outside events once summer is closer.
Fentz said the activities for kids, such as the sidewalk chalk, was also a hit, having sidewalk chalk drawings cover the ground completely.
Live music by Corey Cox started at 2 p.m. and could also be heard from the streets, but once totality began to show the live music died down.
Those celebrating on Broadway Street crowded the sidewalks to look up and listened to Total Eclipse of the Heart and Here Comes the Sun as the approximately four minutes of totality came and went – the sun peeking back from behind the moon, causing the dusk-looking sky to instantly brighten and the temperature to warm once again.
“I enjoyed it very much,” said Fentz, who watched the solar eclipse with his family, alongside the many others who joined. “Taking your glasses off and you see the eclipse – I don’t know – it was more than I expected.”
Despite the anticipated and highly talked about heavy traffic, Fentz said the traffic through town wasn’t too bad, and in fact Broadway Street was empty of any cars during the totality of the solar eclipse.
With the live music picking back up after totality ended, Fentz said there isn’t an exact time when the party will end, staying open until people decide to head home. Fentz said with another event to take place tonight – the Purdue Boilermakers versus the Connecticut Huskies in the NCAA Tournament Championship – he’s not quite sure how many people will stay to watch that as well.
