Eclipse day in N.B.: ‘The coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life’

It was an unforgettable day across the Picture Province.

With near perfect weather, visitors poured into New Brunswick for events in Miramichi, Fredericton, Woodstock, Florenceville-Bristol and Moncton, among others.

Many locations also had events in the days leading up to the eclipse, sparking unusually high levels of traffic.

Anticipation grew as the eclipse began in mid-afternoon, with people donning viewing glasses to safely look up.

When totality occurred, an eerie feeling of twilight touched the skies as the eclipse moved through stages, from light to dark.

As daylight slowly returned, many spectators struggled to describe what they had just experienced.

An eclipse chaser and a special birthday

As the light started to fade, one man in Florenceville-Bristol started to yell out a countdown to the crowd of every minute until full totality.

This was not the first eclipse for Aaron De Runtz of California, but the fourth. He’s also travelled to Oregon, Chile and Australia to witness these types of astronomical events.

“So this year we had the great fortune of ending up in New Brunswick, which we love. The people are so nice and really a lot of fun,” De Runtz said.

“I call it the most beautiful, natural experience you could have,” he said.

“It’s like looking at the eye of God. The first one I experienced, it brought me to tears. I was hooked. I decided the rest of my life, I’m just going to try to go to every one I can.”

In Fredericton, people packed the lawn in front of Picaroons Brewing Company and along the St. John River.

For one woman watching, Monday was extra special.

“That what I’ll tell my parents, is that I’ll never forget this birthday. It tops the books for sure,” said Sarah Muir, who turned 33 on the day of the eclipse.

“I didn’t know what to expect. When the ring of light came out, oh my goodness,” she said.

“Amazing, I’m still shaking.”

‘I’m in awe’

Laughter, cheering, and exclamations could be heard across the field of Miramichi Airport during peak totality. 

When daylight returned, many who witnessed the spectacle could hardly stop smiling.

“This was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life! I’m a very spiritual person, and it was such a fulfilling, spiritual experience,” said Mylo Adams.

“That was incredible. I’m in awe, I’m going to remember this forever.”

Alyssa Dustin said the lighting, temperature, and feeling of the crowd all changed at once.

“I saw one in 1986 when I was in high school and it wasn’t nearly as cool as this one,” she said.

Holly Turner and Jara de Hoog woke up early to drive up from Wolfville, N.S.

“When I knew there was an eclipse happening, I was like, I know we’re going to totality.” de Hoog said.

Turner said it was unlike anything else she’s seen.

“That was really amazing, I’ve never seen a photo of how it looked in real life. My jaw just dropped,” Turner said.

“I kept trying to take a photo but my hands were shaking so much, I was so excited.”

Lisa and Doug Smith traveled all the way from Vancouver to be in Miramichi.

“This was absolutely beyond expectations. One of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Lisa said.

She described it as surreal and magical.

“It changes you.”

Capturing the event from up in the air

Brothers David and Lawson Hunter, and a team of volunteers, had an ingenious way of capturing the once-in-a-lifetime total eclipse.  

 At around 4 p.m., a massive balloon, carrying a payload equipped with several cameras and computers, took off with the help of a group of volunteers.

It carried a camera and a telescope designed to feed images of the sun, the moon’s shadow and the earth.

Woodstock ‘won the lottery’ of good weather, mayor says

With blue skies and crowds gathering along the river, Woodstock Mayor Trina Jones said the area was fortunate to be blessed with good weather.

“We won the lottery for sure, I think,” Jones said.

She said Woodstock and other western New Brunswick communities have been planning for today for up to a year in advance, and it’s all paying off.

“I think it’s just incredible that there’s so many people that have embraced this experience,” she said.

“We have a lot of visitors from all over the world who are so shocked to see how far people would come. There’s people here from Germany, Australia, Hawaii, all over the states.”

At the core of Woodstock’s organizing is that all events are free to the public.

“We don’t want a parking lot fee to be a barrier keeping someone from coming out to enjoy it and be in the community,” Jones said.

Jones said she’s been hearing from several visitors who had planned to be elsewhere on the path but changed plans last minute when the weather was better in New Brunswick.

“I think we’ll probably see some extra people to the province as a result of that, but we’re prepared, I feel, for all the visitors and we welcome them.”

David Slipp was born in Woodstock but now lives in Rhode Island. He knew he would be coming home for the eclipse when he started making plans a year ago.

“Of course everybody goes through the anxiety, is it going to be raining today or not, and we’ve lucked out with probably some of the best weather in North America,” Slipp said.

He said the experience will be emotional for him.

“I believe it will be for me, not as much a spiritual thing, but it does place us as a scheme within our whole universe or our whole solar system.”

Planning to view the eclipse with a special telescope and camera, Slipp said the difference between a full eclipse and a 99 per cent eclipse is between night and day, literally.

“This is a totally different experience, it’s almost like that darkness will envelop each individual, they’ll all feel different things,” Slipp said.

“But for me, it just puts us in perspective of part of our whole universe.”

“It’s good for me to be back here in my hometown where I grew up.

Spirit drummers

Marlena Stemm is a member of the Gitpoo’eesk Eagle Spirit Drummers from Natoaganeg First Nation.

“We are here to help Mother Earth honour her agreement with the sun and the moon to restore balance,” Stemm said, explaining that the moon represents the feminine and the sun is the masculine.

“And when they come together, it’s for everything … to balance out.”

She said members of her group will be singing and reading poetry and wants to remind people that the experience goes beyond science.

“It’s all about the energy, and I want everybody to know that. We are spirits having that human experience.”

Long lineups at the border

Perhaps no one is more familiar with the border crossing from Houlton, Maine into New Brunswick than John Slipp.

As president of the Woodstock Duty Free Shop, right on the border’s edge, he has a front-row view of traffic as it goes back and forth across the line.

“At this particular port, they rarely, generally never, open up three lanes. It’s only one or two,” Slipp said of the Canada Border Services Agency.

Sunday morning, he said there were two lanes of Canada-bound cars backed up all the way to American customs.

But by the evening, it was three lanes of cars backed up waiting to get into New Brunswick.

“Going into the eclipse, I really didn’t know what to expect, even though lots of people said huge numbers of people were going to show up,” Slipp said.

“I thought I’d wait and see. There were lots of people coming into Canada, anyway. “

In addition to those heading into the province to view the eclipse, the fact that Maine is also in the path of full totality is also increasing border traffic.

“Americans from all over the States that are staying in Maine might pop on over, drive around just to check [Canada] out.”

Business at his store is booming, he added.

“It’s unusual how many Americans are making small day-trips.”

Closer to home, ‘full circle’

In 2017, Mary King of Miramichi travelled more than 4,000 kilometres to view the total solar eclipse in Idaho. This time around, she’s just going to take a few steps into the backyard for the same experience.

And there will be more family around too.

“It’s bringing the story full circle,” she said.

King said seeing a total eclipse gave her a feeling of genuine awe. She said people lucky enough to spend a few minutes in the moon’s shadow should take a moment to fully experience it.

“I’m going to set a timer on my phone and just make sure I take a minute for myself. Just to look around and breathe it, and feel it on your skin and feel it in your bones,” she said.

King is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society. She said many people have asked her what the 2017 eclipse was like, and she struggles to put it into words.

“It’s kind of a green light. Sometimes you feel like you’re in the Matrix and other times you feel like this is a totally unique experience that they haven’t made a movie on yet,” she said.

She said she’s thankful for all the people who worked to prepare Miramichi to host visitors who want that experience.

“I’m really proud of my city.”