Hundreds gather to view rare solar eclipse as it crosses the Rockford region
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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BELVIDERE — Catherine Rennert did the math on when the next total solar eclipse would pass through the United States and decided she couldn’t pass on the chance to witness the celestial event.
“It’s going to be a long time before there’s another one … I’d be 100,” said Rennert, who traveled from Rockford to Spencer Park to sit in a lawn chair side-by-side with her husband, Jack Ream, to watch the eclipse. “So we don’t want to miss it.”
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Ream and Rennert were among hundreds of people who gathered Monday at Spencer Park, 899 Appleton Road, for a viewing party organized by the Boone County Conservation District and Ida Public Library.
Monday brought the last total solar eclipse that will happen in the country until August 2044. Although the Rockford area wasn’t in the path of totality — where the moon completely blocks out the sun — there was still a sight to behold here with a 91% magnitude eclipse.
“We have grandparents and grankids here. We have everybody, all walks life here today,” said Mark Freedlund, program support coordinator with the conservation district. “Having a community experience together is way more powerful.”
From our viewpoint in the Rockford area, the maximum coverage left just a crescent sliver of the sun uncovered by the moon.
Larry and Julie Ojeda of Beloit, Wisconsin, brought their grandsons David, 5, and Ferran, 3, to the park in Belvidere. All were equipped with the necessary safety glasses and their matching Eclipse 2024 T-shirts.
“We wanted to be with other people celebrating this once in a lifetime thing,” Julie Ojeda said.
This was the first total solar eclipse in the United States since 2017, but this one covered a wider and more densely populated portion of the country. The path of totality spanned from Texas to Maine, according to NASA.
Spectators got a clear blue sky on Monday after rain and overcast clouds that dominated much of the past week cleared. The eclipse started here about 12:50 p.m. with its maximum coverage at 2:05 p.m., when bright skies shifted to a more twilight look.
Paulette and Roger Swope of Poplar Grove were among the hundreds to attend the viewing party, which required overflow parking in a grassy lot to fit all the cars.
“I expected a lot but not quite this many,” Paulette Swope said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing to see it.”
Photos | Spencer Park viewing party
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
