More events, watch parties announced for Monday's eclipse

From screening the film “Moonstruck” to serving half-moon cookies to featuring the Sylvan Beach Singers performing songs like Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” the Oneida Lake Arts and Heritage Center is going all-in on all things celestial for the Great American Eclipse.

“We’re making the most out of it,” said Linda Williams, founder and president of the center. “The music will be pertinent to the sun, the moon, everything. The whole thing is about the sun, the moon and the stars.”

Oneida County includes some locations in the eclipse’s path of totality as well as plenty of spots where one can witness partial totality, and other businesses and organizations are making the most of it, too.

“I feel like everyone locally is getting really excited and they're going out of their way to create and host safe places and cool experiences,” said Sarah Foster Calero, president of Oneida County Tourism. “Anything we can do to support them goes a long way, so I highly recommend that.”

A day at the beach

Williams said that the Oneida Lake Arts and Heritage Center is hosting events all weekend long. Students from Camden Central School District will display eclipse-related work, including artwork by high school students in the Center’s gallery.

Get “Moonstruck” Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., and attend the main event Monday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. A $15 donation is encouraged, and guests can park for free in the town of Sylvan Beach as well as enjoy refreshments and view the eclipse from inside the center if it’s too chilly outdoors. Some of the town’s restaurants, which are not open year-round, will be open on Monday for hungry eclipse-chasers.

“The beach itself will be, in my opinion, a really great spot to watch it, having that nice view and positioning of where it is,” Calero said.

The total eclipse will occur in Sylvan Beach for about a minute and a half, beginning at 3:23:38 p.m. and ending at 3:25:04 p.m.

“I think that people didn’t realize that Sylvan Beach is a perfect place to hold the eclipse viewing," Williams said. “We’re one of the places that has 100% visibility. The other neat thing is we don't have high buildings, we have free parking, and you can even go sit at the beach.”

Nearby Verona Beach State Park will be open with free admission for eclipse viewing on Monday, too, with restrooms available and food trucks like Oh Crepe & Waffles, serving from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Choose your path

Besides Sylvan Beach, other Oneida County locations that lie in the path of totality include Camden, Boonville, Forestport, the northern part of Rome and a portion of Adirondack Park.

Imagine Greater Camden is hosting a free Total Eclipse Watch Party at Manley Field on Route 13 from 12 to 5 p.m. The organization encourages families to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the field, where they can enjoy refreshments from Dean’s Concessions and Catering and Rome-based Arizona Tacos, play games and groove to music courtesy of Camden’s own DJ Kenny the Promo Guy.

Fittingly, Full Moon Reflections Art Gallery will be on-site at the Camden event offering face-painting from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Attendees can purchase a limited number of eclipse glasses with proceeds benefiting the Imagine Greater Camden Holiday Stroll and Paint the Town project. Totality will occur in Camden from 3:23:11 p.m. to 3:25:35 p.m.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our community,” said Jim Plumley, president of Imagine Greater Camden, in a statement. “We’re excited to provide a safe and fun environment for everyone to enjoy this astronomical wonder.”

Rome's place on the path

Rome is uniquely situated with regards to the eclipse’s path.

“Rome is right on the edge of totality, and you could divide the city almost in half by who will see a full eclipse and who might not but will also be very, very close,” said Kelly Cardwell, a park ranger with the National Park Service (NPS) and the public information officer for Fort Stanwix National Monument.

Copper City Brewing Company is capitalizing on its position with an Edge of Totality watch party. In a Facebook post, the brewery revealed that it will launch a special edition beer and host spectators from 1 to 5 p.m., with the first 50 attendees receiving free safety glasses.

“Our view from the southern patio is perfect, and you can be the first to sip the Edge of Totality Black IPA,” the company announced in the post.

For more family fun, plus educational opportunities, Cardwell said that the NPS, in partnership with the City of Rome Parks Department, Jervis Library, and Connected Community Schools, is hosting two different eclipse watch parties in Rome. Both will include Junior Ranger activity books and pop-up libraries with a focus on books about nature and science.

One will take place at Fort Stanwix from 1 to 4:30 p.m., a locale which will experience about 99.6% totality. Cardwell said that this near-complete totality will allow attendees to witness Baily’s beads, a fascinating celestial phenomenon that won't be as prominent in the path of totality.

“Essentially, they look like blobs that are dancing on top of the surface of the moon as the eclipse progresses at its peaks,” Cardwell said. “So you'll be able to see those blobs that are the actual sun shining through the mountains on the surface of the moon. In total eclipse, you can only see them for a short time, because they'll be immediately covered up by the moon completely, so that edge of the sun is completely covered up. But in a 99% eclipse, they kind of just rotate around the edge of the moon, and it's really, really neat. Some people call it the diamond ring moment, because when it's approaching totality, it shines bright one last time, as those blobs of solar flares come through.”

The other Rome event that the parks department, library and Connected Community Schools are holding will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Guyer Field, a city of Rome park that will be in the path of totality. Parking on city streets will be free of charge. The Jervis Library sits between both viewing locales and will have free parking available as well.

“It will look like sunset in the middle of the day, and you’ll be able to see stars, and it's going to be really cool,” Cardwell said. “No matter where you are, it’s going to be really, really cool, but there's just a little bit of difference about what it will look like depending on where you’re sitting.”

Stay safe and take advantage of the opportunities

Regardless of where you might go to view the eclipse, officials advise people to plan ahead in anticipation of increased traffic throughout the county and allow plenty of extra time to reach the desired destination. And of course, keep safety in mind by only viewing the eclipse through approved glasses – Calero of Oneida County Tourism emphasized that regular sunglasses won’t cut it.

As visitors flock to the region to bear witness to this once-in-a-lifetime event, Cardwell has some advice for locals.

“Even if you can't come to our parties, try to observe it somehow,” she said. “Even if it's snowy and rainy out, the sky will still get dark, the temperature will still change, it will still be a full-body, interesting experience, so go outside and explore those two minutes.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Oneida County eclipse events