At the end of the day it wasn’t what we wanted, but it was unforgettable.
The solar eclipse we had been waiting months for didn’t turn out the way anyone wanted.
But for the thousands of people that came to Cobourg, they didn’t go away empty handed.
Memories of today will stick with people who were here.
Who waited patiently while the clouds slowly drifted by hoping for clear skies to catch this once in a lifetime event.
Families came from near and far. Played on the beach like it was the summer, only with jackets on. Because of the windy day, a number of kites were in the air.
Staring at around noon the crowds slowly gathered along the lakeshore area in Cobourg.
The town’s Emergency Management Group should be thanked for planning out such a task.
The biggest worry was the influx of people coming into town.
And with that came the “what if’s?”
Although there were a large amount of people, it likely would have been double what was here if not for the cloudy weather.
Porta-potties were set up at various locations along the lakeshore. After the parking lots were full, Division Street south of Queen was closed off.
Members of the fire department were on stand-by at the bottom of Division Street by the Coast Guard station for any emergency.
Thankfully, as far as we know, there was none.
CAO Tracey Vaughan was one of the people who came out to take part in the event.
“The good news is that everybody that’s coming is doing it in a paced manner.”
“We’re obviously making sure from a parking, traffic perspective that everything is going smoothly. That’s really our goal. That everybody can enjoy this with little impact.”
Ron Christie who lives in Cobourg was selling commemorative mugs for the occasion along Division Street and took a few moments to speak with Today’s Northumberland.
Christie said just minutes before the total solar eclipse, “it is a bit of a bust unfortunately.”
Christie said he’s watched one solar eclipse before in the United States and it was almost indescribable.
“Unfortunately, we have heavy cloud so the only thing that’s going to happen when it goes into totality is it’s going to get quite dark.”
And that it did.
The crowds were in awe as in the general area, day turned into night in the immediate area for a brief period of time.
After, a brief moment of silence and then applause. The day didn’t turn out as planned, but the crowds of people went away with smiles on their faces.
Christie saw a his first total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.in Nebraska where a town of 8,300 people blossomed into 40,000.
“I remember it vividly. People were laughing, cheering and some of them were crying. It is just a completely different experience.”
The next eclipse will take place in 2026, but you’ve have to travel to the eastern edge of Spain or the western edge of France.
The next one in Canada will be in 2044 and be in Calgary or Medicine Hat.
Christie sums up Cobourg’s cloudy day by saying, “we’ve got a lot of people here and they would have had a really unique experience that unfortunately is going to be pretty limited.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
