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NewsApril 9, 2024

“Have an eclipse and they will come,” Ray Kinsella of "Field of Dreams” fame might have said. For the second time in seven years, Cape Girardeau has been a hot spot for people to watch the anticipated total solar eclipse. Community members and tourists traveled to watch parties in Cape Girardeau such as Cape County Park, downtown, Houck Field and the SportsPlex to watch the “twice-in-a-lifetime” event in perfect weather. ...

Crowds gathered at the SportsPlex to view the total solar eclipse Monday, April 8, in Cape Girardeau.
Crowds gathered at the SportsPlex to view the total solar eclipse Monday, April 8, in Cape Girardeau.Alyssa Lunsford ~ alunsford@semissourian.com

“Have an eclipse and they will come,” Ray Kinsella of "Field of Dreams” fame might have said.

For the second time in seven years, Cape Girardeau has been a hot spot for people to watch the anticipated total solar eclipse. Community members and tourists traveled to watch parties in Cape Girardeau such as Cape County Park, downtown, Houck Field and the SportsPlex to watch the “twice-in-a-lifetime” event in perfect weather.

There were 26 states represented and residents from Scotland, Lebanon, Australia, England and the Netherlands reported to be in the SportsPlex and Cape County Park watch parties.

While some eclipse watchers camped out to find the perfect spot, others came from different countries for the event. John Smith of Bumbry, Western Australia, decided to come to Cape Girardeau with his friend, Christine Burke of Ventura, California, who was attending with a group from the Anthroposophical Society, meaning wisdom of the human being society. Smith said he had seen an eclipse before but that it was a long time ago.

“I believe there’s a lot of power in the eclipse, so we will make wishes and hope they are going to come true,” Smith said.

Another Cape County Park North viewer was Mary Adams, who just happened to be celebrating her birthday. Adams said she finds the eclipse interesting as a natural phenomenon.

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“I think it’s interesting when you have something like an eclipse. This is a naturally occurring phenomenon that rhythmically occurs every year. We have eclipse cycles every year. So that’s not unusual, but where the path falls, that’s unique. I’m not an eclipse chaser, however, in 2017, we had an eclipse that went from the West Coast to the East Coast across the United States. In October last year, we had an annular eclipse that went over the Southwest, and then this one, and it created this really lovely form, that if you look at the years that they have occurred and the places where they go, it starts to tell a story,” Adams said

Some eclipse viewers such as Mary Brooks, Thad White and Rodger Berry picked out their spots at Cape County Park years ago. Brooks said she picked a spot more than four years ago as it is halfway between Gulfport, Mississippi, where she is from, and her daughter, who lives in Minneapolis.

“I picked it because Cape Girardeau had a better chance of clear skies. And it’s a pretty straight shot north from Mississippi and I also wanted to travel back in time and see early spring again,” Brooks said.

White and Berry worked together during the last eclipse in 2017 in St. Joe, but unfortunately, it was overcast and they did not get the results they were looking for. This year, they were hopeful to get a great open shot for their equipment. The pair brought equipment costing around $2,500 to get the perfect shot of the eclipse.

“We’re wanting to get all the partial phases leading up to totality. We both want to see the corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun, because it stretches out for miles. Then we want to see it once it gets to the last partial phases. We want to see the whole eclipse, but our main thing to see today that we didn’t get to see in St. Joe is the corona, and the totality is gonna be like four minutes and eight seconds,” Berry said.

Totality became emotional for some viewers such as Nashville, Tennessee, visitors Ali and Jenna, who didn’t want to give their last names. Jenna said they both teared up during totality because of the natural beauty of the eclipse.

“It feels so surreal. It was so beautiful, crazy, beautiful. Jenna loves staring at the sun. This was the first time she’s been able to stare at it without hurting her eyes,” Ali said about her friend.

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