By Emma Delk, The Intelligencer
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — All eyes were on the sky at Grand Vue Park when the clouds cleared to give an uncovered view of the solar eclipse during the watch party hosted by the SMART Center, the Near Earth Object Foundation and Grand Vue Park.
More than a thousand eclipse viewers gathered at Shelters 3, 4 and 5 in the park on Monday, eager to get a clear look at the 96.5% magnitude view of the eclipse from 3:16 to 3:17 p.m.
Grand Vue was one of several spots around the area where spectators gathered to observe the event.
SMART Center Owners Robert and Libby Strong were thrilled not only to see the eclipse, but to watch the event that had been years in the making for them go completely as planned.
“After the August 2017 eclipse, we put everything back in boxes and marked them for April 8, 2024,” recalled Robert Strong during Monday’s watch party.
“Since then, we’ve been planning and taking the activities we did last eclipse and saying, ‘How can we make this better? Can we add a couple of more activities? What else can we do differently?’”
The couple’s seven years of brainstorming paid-off, as they had 12 eclipse-centered stations at the Grand Vue Park Watch Party for attendees to enjoy.
