The waterfront was ground zero for eclipse-watching Monday afternoon as a large crowd of friends and strangers celebrated. For the most part, the Sun Gods co-operated with plenty of sunny breaks allowing a great view of the action. In fact, cloud cover didn't become a problem until after the peak of the eclipse.
People talked excitedly about what was about to happen, exchanged tips on viewing devices, smiled broadly and generally enjoyed the outdoor experience. The crowd had energy...a buzz.
The mood was joyful and some decided to make it a group event to share with friends and family.
Mom Robin Bernard was part of a group of 15 that had blankets laid out, with plenty of snacks and drinks.
Her daughter Sophie is an only child, so didn't have siblings to share this event with.
"So it started with her just inviting a few friends and it's now grown into all of her friends and all of my friends, and their kids, and it's just kind of turned into a big group party. We're extremely excited."
Bernard says she's been planning the event since last July.
The group was part of an estimated 2,000 strung out along the waterfront and Dave Roscoe, vice-president of the North Bay Astronomy Club, told BayToday the turnout was "fantastic."
See: North Bay Astronomy Club to host eclipse viewing event at waterfront
He admits to being worried at first as he watched the skies early on.
"I was. I was kind of concerned because as I was watching the weather it was looking like it wasn't going to be that great. But the worst thing that could happen is we end up with eclipse glasses left over."
He didn't need to worry. The 1,000 pair, available for a donation to the food bank, ran out quickly.
Roscoe got the usual questions like eyeball safety and what time will different phases happen, but he says he also had plenty of explaining to do.
"I've been doing a lot of explaining about the equipment that we're using. We have telescopes you can actually look through that's tracking the sun, in other cases we have a viewing system that projects an image so people can look at it without actually putting their eye up to an eyepiece.
"Public outreach is one of the reasons we exist. This is almost like a giant party, it's got quite a party atmosphere. I think we're going to be pretty tired-out by the end of the day, but we love this sort of opportunity."
If you are interested, the club holds meetings on Zoom, so anybody that wants to follow along can submit their e-mail and the club will include them when it sends out the Zoom link.
One of the happiest people in the crowd was Food Bank manager Debbie Marson who was busy packing a van full of food. The Astronomy Club bought a thousand eclipse glasses, and then gave them to the Food Bank to give out in exchange for a donation. She was shocked by the response.
"Oh my gosh it's a huge success. I had no idea what to expect but you know I shouldn't have doubted our community 'cause they always step up and they're very generous to our food bank. Our donations are down and our client need is up. Things are tight and we really need help, and they did it."
It didn't take long for the glasses to disappear.
"The demand for the glasses was high. This is something that's really special for everyone to come and take part in. It was really special for us to be invited in by the Astronomy Club as a food and fundraiser."
Missed it? The next solar eclipse to hit Ontario is 2144.
