Eclipse arrives: Region plunged into darkness in 'once-in-a-lifetime' event

They came into Cape Girardeau by the thousands to view Monday’s solar eclipse.

They traveled to the city’s SportsPlex and Southeast Missouri State University’s Houck Field and the River Campus. Crowds also showed up in Perryville, Missouri, and elsewhere around the region, enduring hot summer weather for what many called a “once-in-a-lifetime” event.

About 3,000 people showed up at the SportsPlex, turning the parking lot into a giant viewing area.

Some camped out in their vehicles. Others set up tents or camped out on the lawn.

Cape Girardeau resident Jerry Ford emceed the festive occasion, which included food and music.

The sun begins to emerge just out of totality Monday during the solar eclipse in Cape Girardeau.Laura Simon

“It was great. I think it was awe-inspiring,” he said after the total eclipse that briefly turned day into night.

People from about 20 states and five or six foreign countries, including from as far away as Australia, traveled to the SportsPlex to view the celestial event, Ford said. Many arrived early.

Rama Bishnoi and her 22-year-old son Sooraj went to Perryville from Mumbai, India, after having spent three years planning the trip.

“We follow [eclipses], actually,” Rama said. “We’re both astronomy buffs.”

Their solar fascination runs so deep, she said, her son is named for the Hindi word for “sun.”

From left, Ella Chambers, Nathaniel Keiser, Cole Chambers, Isaac Chambers and Casia Keiser watch the sun during the eclipse Monday at Perryville Municipal Airport.Andrew J. Whitaker

But neither had experienced totality before Monday. In 2009, they drove 10 hours to one in India, only to see clouds to block their view at the last minute.

“He’s been up all night, checking the weather,” Rama said as Sooraj tinkered with their camera. “Until finally I told him, ‘Dude, go to sleep.’”

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau gave away a couple hundred eclipse T-shirts and distributed thousands of eclipse viewing glasses.

All the T-shirts were handed out before 9 a.m., organizers said.

CVB executive director Brenda Newbern said, “A lot of out-of-town people brought their own (eclipse) glasses.”

Newbern said she was thrilled with the turnout.

The Duncan family from Hammond, Louisiana, was the first to show up at the SportsPlex, arriving about 2:30 a.m. They camped out in their van.

“This is our first time in Missouri,” said high-school student Madalyn Duncan, 16, who spent the early morning hours working on her homework.

Duncan’s mother, Holly, said family members were able to wash up and brush their teeth in the restrooms in the SportsPlex when it opened early Monday.

Mick Horler and Lucy Kavanagh of London, England, traveled to Cape Girardeau to see the eclipse.

They saw Cape Girardeau as the perfect spot to view the eclipse. The fact the town sits by the Mississippi River was a plus, Horler said.

“We are kind of obsessed with the Mississippi River,” he said.

Horler said they were looking forward to seeing the total eclipse.

“We are basically nerds,” he said, more than an hour before the start of the eclipse.

Horler said it was an “endearing trait” Americans have a T-shirt for every occasion.

Kavanagh said the couple liked the idea of celebrating the eclipse with a crowd of people.

“The community thing sounded nice,” she said.

Experiencing the emotional side of the event was what University of Chicago astrophysics professor Don Lamb said he was most anticipating: people crying, people shouting.

“It’s soaking all the little things in,” he said. “It’s being surrounded by people like you; people who have made the trek.”

Tuscon, Arizona, resident Dan Ayres said he traveled to Cape Girardeau because, “I wanted to come to the epicenter of the eclipse.”

David and Suzanne Raymond came from West Columbia, Texas.

David said they had planned on traveling to St. Joseph, Missouri, to watch the moon block out the sun. But they decided to go to Cape Girardeau at the last minute because of a better forecast.

Bob Greenlee of Sikeston, Missouri, showed up. So too did his brother, Clarence Beavers of the Houston area, and his nephew, David Martin of Imboden, Arkansas.

The three men set up their long-lensed, filtered cameras on tripods at the edge of the parking lot, waiting patiently for the eclipse.

“I think it was worth it,” Beavers said after the eclipse.

Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas-Aburto said he was happy to see a good turnout at Houck Field.

“We are gathered here to observe poetry in the sky, poetry in the making,” Vargas said. “It’s hard to find any other day with more energy.”

Vargas said the eclipse in 2024 will have a totality more than twice as long in duration as Monday’s, which lasted 1 minute and 40 seconds. In 2024, the totality should last just over 4 minutes, he said.

“That will really be something,” Vargas said.

The partial eclipse began at 11:52 in Cape Girardeau. The totality of the eclipse began at 1:20.

World-renowned scientist and author Michio Kaku spoke just before totality occurred, addressing students and teachers from 17 school districts, among other eclipse enthusiasts.

“You realize that this is the most-studied eclipse in human history?” Kaku asked the assembly. “This is the eclipse of the century. You will talk to your grandchildren and tell them that you were there for the eclipse of 2017.”

Dennis Vollink, amateur astronomer, said he had worked with Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau, where his son and daughter teach, to bring nine telescopes onto the field at Houck for the eclipse.

“We’ve been preparing for six to seven months for this,” Vollink said.

Specially built filters, some made of mylar and others of glass, blocked 99.9 percent of the sunlight, Vollink said, so people could look into the telescopes and see the moon’s shadow without the sunlight burning anyone’s eyes.

The eclipse was broadcast live on the Ohio Valley Conference Network. Southeast is a member of the conference.

The edge of the moon began to overlap the edge of the sun shortly before noon, with the moon completely covering the sun by 1:20 p.m.

The horizons dimmed to a dusky, twilight haze as the crowd stared high at the gleaming white silhouette.

Overcome by the sight, Sooraj Bishnoi collapsed.

“It’s too much for any words. I did cry,” he said. “You read it in books, and you see it in movies, but nothing prepares you for the real thing.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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