Time to Party When the World Goes Dark

Apr 4

Are you ready to party as the sun goes down (at 3pm) on April 8th? We most certainly are! Consider this your invitation to our eNOW Eclipse Jam. We’re teaming up with the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce in the front lawn of our office from 2:00-4:00pm to host an eclipse watch party complete with snacks, tunes, sidewalk chalk, corn hole and the game that puts the “Jam” in our outing, Kan Jam.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Bring your own beverages and lawn chairs and share in an afternoon of totality! The weather man is calling for some nice warm, clear (fingers crossed) conditions but do remember to carry a sweatshirt or umbrella with you because, after all, it is April in NY and you never know what’s going to happen. And when the sky goes dark, the temp could drop 20 degrees rapidly. Street parking is available and eclipse glasses are in stock here at our location, courtesy of the Chamber.

Want options? For a menu of eclipse watch parties going on in our area, view our eclipse event grid.

TIPS FOR A SAFE SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWING

Regardless of where you choose to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, you should keep a few things in mind…

1) This is probably the most important thing: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN without the proper safety lenses. I can’t really reiterate this enough. The whole threat of blindness from staring at the sun is no joke on the day of a solar eclipse. Except during a very brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks out the sun, it is not safe to look at it directly without specialized eye protection specifically for solar viewing. If you try to look at the sun though a camera lens, binoculars, a telescope or the naked eye without a special purpose solar filter secured over your optics, you will instantly (as in right then and there) suffer severe eye injury (and possibly, actually go blind, which I believe sounds like a bad time.)

2) Second, keep in mind that this is a huge deal so there will be a lot of folks coming from all over for their chance to see the eclipse. This has been a great cause of concern for many, as the influx of visitors could very well cause traffic/travel congestion. Be aware of heavy traffic conditions, such as cars stopping on the road or pulling off to the side to park, and many people walking through the streets. Schedule plenty of time to get where you are going, so you don’t need to try and be in a hurry. And please, do not try to view the eclipse while driving in your car. Pull over if you need to. If not, just use your car’s visor and not your eclipse glasses while driving.

3) Animal care is a big item for pet lovers. On the plus side, typically animals (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) do not normally stare up at the sun. They mostly heed their natural reflexes to avoid it, so do not encourage your fur babies to try and watch with you because it can cause them retina damage as much as us. But the quick atmospheric changes can effect them. Some animals may have increased anxiety, while others will want to sleep or nap based on the fading light. (Just go ahead and let them; a perk of being a pet is the ability to take a nap whenever, wherever.)

TOTALITY TIMELINE

You’ve got your plans in place. You have your safety notes and glasses. Now what time should you be ready for this to happen? For those of us here in Western New York, the timing we should be focused on per NASA is the Buffalo time slot. Partial eclipse is expected to begin at 2:04pm (EDT), totality to begin at 3:18pm (EDT), and maximum peak at 3:20pm (EDT). Totality is expected to end at 3:22pm (EDT) and the partial will end at 4:32pm (EDT). If you want to find out what the eclipse will look like in an area you plan to visit ahead of time, visit eclipse2024.org and scope out their interactive path of totality map.

With everything in mind, you should be able to view the eclipse safely and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime (or twice depending on how long you live) opportunity. The last total solar eclipse to pass over our state was on January 24, 1925 and the next one won’t be until August 23, 2044.

So now that you are well informed, all that’s left to do is wait for Monday to party with your favorite people when the world goes dark.