GREENFIELD — Hancock County’s biggest eclipse viewing party was held at Depot Street Park in downtown Greenfield, where an estimated 1,000 people gathered Monday to witness the much-anticipated total solar eclipse.
Guests enjoyed a family-friendly party atmosphere from noon to 5 p.m., complete with food trucks, kids’ activities and eclipse-themed music like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” playing throughout the day.
Joe Kelly brought his family of seven from the southside of Chicago to enjoy the public watch party after learning about the Greenfield Parks Department’s “Total Eclipse of the Parks” events online.
“We knew totality was close to the eastside of Indianapolis so we did some research and the Total Eclipse of the Parks popped up,” said Kelly, who brought his parents, his wife and their three kids — ages 4-14.
“When we read the description online it sounded awesome, but it was even better than the marketing suggested, especially for the kids. It could not have been better,” said Kelly as his wife and daughter danced to the music played by a DJ shortly after the total eclipse ended.
Crowds came early to witness the eclipse, in which the moon partially or fully blocked the sun from roughly 1:50-4:23 p.m.
The music stopped and a hush fell over the crowd just before the critical point of totality — which lasted from 3:06-3:09 p.m.
One woman in the crowd shouted, “It’s happening!” as the moon moved into total alignment with the sun, creating what’s known as a bright white “diamond ring” around the moon.
At that point, viewers spent nearly four minutes with their glasses off, witnessing the spectacle that briefly turned day into twilight, making a few stars visible in the sky.
The crowd erupted in applause at both the start and end of totality, when the sun started to poke out from beyond the moon, instantly turning twilight back to daylight.
Shelby McCorkle of Greenfield, along with 10 family members, marveled at the event.
“It was amazing, said McCorkle, who had a tiny Yorkie mix named Max tucked under one arm.
“The kids really enjoyed it and did a great job with their glasses,” said McCorkle, whose oldest son, a kindergartener, learned about the importance of eclipse eye safety at Weston Elementary School.
She and her sister each brought along their spouses and kids, along with their parents, to witness Monday’s eclipse as a family.
They parked at a relative’s house on nearby Seventh Street and made the short walk to the park, where they enjoyed food they bought at food trucks and danced to the music played throughout the watch party.
Chengde and Rachel Mao also made the eclipse family affair.
The couple from West Lafayette drove two and a half hours with their kids to witness the rare event, which has been hyped up for months, if not years.
“This is a pretty cool atmosphere,” said Rachel Mao, who learned about Hancock County eclipse events online.
Bridget Cook Jones, director of Hancock County Tourism, has devoted much of the past year organizing and promoting eclipse watch parties throughout the county, given the area’s prime viewing area within the coveted path of totality.
“I’ve heard from people who have come as far as Oregon and Wisconsin,” said Jones shortly after totality ended Monday afternoon.
Crowds throughout the county seemed very manageable, she said, despite predictions that as many as 30,000 to 100,000 people could descend upon the county given its optimal viewing range.
“Cloud cover was a concern for some, but Al Roker said this morning (on the “Today” show) that the best place to view the eclipse was going to be eastern Indiana and Maine, so that definitely worked in our favor,” she said.
Texas, on the other hand, which was expected to be one of the prime viewing areas in the country, dealt with thunderstorms and cloudy skies throughout the day.
Claire Epperly of Chicago was thrilled with her decision to watch the eclipse from Depot Street Park in Greenfield.
“When we started researching (online) where we wanted to go, Greenfield was definitely the most organized,” she said. “That was definitely my first choice, and then this morning when the sky was clear I was so glad we came.”
When her husband Bill started posting online about their plans to visit a small town east of Indianapolis to watch the eclipse, their friends from Royal Oak, Mich. decided to join them at the Depot Street Park party.
“It was fantastic. It was so well-organized. We wanted to be somewhere where we were with other people but not in a rowdy, big-city atmosphere, and this is perfect. We love to visit small towns because I’m from a town this size,” said Bill, who grew up in Summit, N.J.
Julie Patterson, assistant director of the Greenfield Parks Department, was thrilled to see so many people from such a wide range of places visit the Greenfield parks on Monday.
“I was very pleased with the turnout and how smoothly everything went and how cool the eclipse was. It was awesome,” said Patterson shortly after the moon moved past the sun.
She encountered a number of out-of-state guests on Monday, including one group from Colorado who switched plans last minute from viewing the eclipse in San Antonio, Texas to Greenfield.
“To have the weather we’ve had today was amazing. We Hoosiers knew it was going to be perfect,” said Paterson, who gave special kudos to her parks staff.
“Our staff executes things very well, and they did it again,” she said.
Jones, the county’s tourism director, said she stopped by the major Greenfield parks hosting viewing events and was thrilled to see big crowds at each one.
“People were even over at Thornwood (Nature Preserve), which wasn’t even an official watch site, and there were a lot of cars at Brandywine Park,” she said.
Parks staff said more than 500 people gathered at Riley Park, about 300 gathered at Beckenholdt Park, and about 800 watched from Brandywine Park.
No matter where they viewed the eclipse, Jones said out-of-town guests were a big part of the local crowds watching the momentous eclipse.
“Our hotels were all sold out a week ago, and I think our campgrounds were all full,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of people say they had such a nice time, and that (Greenfield) is such a nice little town. I definitely think we’ll see some return visitors.”
