'Real Life Science'

Art Tiff expected 100 people or less would attend the Kasson Public Library’s Summer Reading Program “block party” in early June, and about 400 showed up.
The library director also was uncertain about attendance at Monday’s solar eclipse event.
But people swarmed the grounds, the hosts briefly ran out of lemonade and cookies, and, on a day expected to be overcast, the sun shone brightly before it was covered by the moon around 1:08 p.m. during the first total solar eclipse to cross the lower 48 states since 1918.

“It’s just astonishing to see so many people turn out,” Tiff said. “To see all these people and see them out on the playground and picnicking, it’s just overwhelming to me. This building has brought so much to this community. It’s just unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
“It’s really a once-in-a- lifetime celestial event,” Triton Middle School science instructor Amy Woxland said. “And when you teach about it, you don’t get the same effect looking at pictures, so it’s fun to be able to share with my own children. It’s just ‘real life’ science here.” The eclipse caused total darkness along a path from Oregon to South Carolina.

The sunny day in Kasson gradually turned dim, even as excitement picked up at the public library.
An order of special “eclipse” glasses failed to arrive on time, but there were a couple of pairs. And visitors made do with welding masks and kitchen colanders, which projected dozens of eclipse- shaped shadows on the sidewalk.
A wooden contraption with a special concave lens projected a large, dramatic image of the eclipse onto a large reflector.
Tiff built it Sunday, using scraps of wood from his shop. “I’m surprised how well it works,” he said. “It’s just really something.”
Although the absence of “eclipse glasses” was disappointing, the spirited crowd turned the gathering into a community event, library assistant Melanie Bersano said.
Kids swarmed the grounds. Older folks waited patiently. A special Internet feed from NASA was broadcast inside, discussing many angles of the historic event.
“Everyone’s talking,” Bersano said. “Some know each other, some don’t. They’re making new friends. We’ve got people on picnic blankets, and just having a great time. For some people it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s just really exciting to see nature like this, to have such an excitement about science. All the kids are really wanting to learn, and they’re participating.”
Total Eclipse ’17 provided a nice break from the onslaught of bad news around the country while adding a unique bit of history, said Earlene King, former chairwoman of the building committee for the library, which opened in August 2016.

It was a big deal for the facility, too.
“I knew that once we got a larger library we would be able to do some wonderful things. And this is one of them, and I was really excited to come and see the number of people that are here,” King said. “It’s a very good fit, between this historical thing and our new library.”
Linda Leth, Mantorville, said she felt fortunate to be part of it all.
“This is cool,” she said. “And I’m so thankful the library did these things. Because even though they don’t have the glasses, we can come here and watch this. I just wish the rest of my family could be here, but they’re all working. So I called my husband and said, ‘Get out your welding glasses so you can watch it, too.’”
Those lucky enough to have protective eyewear saw the moon gradually overtake the sun, high up and far away.
The sun quickly regained its place and the party broke up at the public library in Kasson, Minn.
Amy Woxland had told her children that the eclipse would make it feel more like 7 p.m. than 1 p.m. - and it did.
“It’s just kind of an eerie feeling,” she said.
Her daughter Sophie, 7, said what was on many minds, from Oregon to South Carolina.
“It’s pretty,” she said.