An estimated 300 people or more came out for Kutztown Community Library’s Solar Eclipse Party on Aug. 21 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the library parking lot.
“Better than I expected,” said Kutztown Library Director Janet Yost when asked how she thought the event went. “I had no idea we would have this many people. We were running short on glasses and the community cooperated, they shared. It’s been wonderful.”
The library originally ordered 100 eclipse glasses. When the phones began ringing with questions about glasses, Yost ordered more glasses to keep up with demand. Yost said the library spent $550 on a total of 250 eclipse glasses. Donations, of which Yost expressed their appreciation, were collected to help cover the cost.
Yost said seeing the solar eclipse “shows you the power of nature. It was just so powerful.”
The Kutztown Community Library Solar Eclipse Party included t-shirt painting, crafts, Henna tattoos and a photo booth. The library also had the live feed from NASA on the big screen TV in the Community Room.
All ages were welcome to participate in this family friendly event. Among those in attendance were Tiffany Thompson and her daughter Aubrey, 7, of Hamburg, who came out to enjoy the t-shirt painting, dressed up in costume for the photo booth and viewed the eclipse.
“It’s amazing,” said Aubrey about seeing the eclipse, jumping up and down.
Thompson said the library Eclipse Party was neat, “It’s certainly a lot more than I could have come up with to do at home. I think (the eclipse) is pretty cool. It’s very educational and it’s neat that it’s so rare, doesn’t happen very often.”
Reno Unger, Kutztown, stopped out during the Eclipse Party, “This is cool, it’s really good the library did this.”
Unger saw the 1969 solar eclipse; he was in the total path.
“It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. It went totally dark, but the light was so weird, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “The wind utterly stopped, I mean, there was a breeze and it just stopped. Then, the birds quit singing, I mean totally.”
Kutztown Mayor Sandy Green also stopped by at the party.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for a safe environment for children and adults to take a look. This is something that doesn’t happen (often),” said Green. “This provides a safe environment which is great. It’s fun to say I’m going to an Eclipse Party.”
Taylor Kutz, Youth Services Librarian at Kutztown Community Library, said she, Yost and library intern Shelby Schwoyer organized the event hoping to offer different activities for all ages. Children and parents enjoyed the solar eclipse related crafts and t-shirt painting. Inside, adults enjoyed the air conditioned Community Room where they could watch the NASA live stream of the solar eclipse.
“I know that this was big for me because this hasn’t happened yet in my lifetime so it’s just exciting. I’ve never experienced anything like that and I think that’s the same for a lot of people,” said Kutz. “I think it’s just an exciting event all around.”
The next solar eclipse is in 2024.