A group of over a hundred people from 8 months to 80 years old gathered at Baxter Library’s solar eclipse viewing event on April 8th at 3 p.m. where free glasses were distributed to all. And what a day for viewing.

After back-to-back spring snowstorms, leaving many residents without power for days, Gorham lucked into a beautiful, cloudless day that reached 63 degrees allowing folks to don shorts and sandals for the first time this year. Children were running, playing and climbing trees obviously enjoying the event. Many people who came experimented with pinhole cameras, colanders and other ways of checking out the eclipse safely.

At approximately 3:30, the peak of the eclipse, it got dark enough for the automatic lights on the town offices building to come on. Because Gorham was not in the direct path, a small sliver of the sun still shown in the sky like a big golden smile. Many in attendance expressed surprise that, with so much of the sun covered, it was still so bright outside which shows just how powerful those sun rays are.

As the moon and sun continued their journeys across the sky and that smile got bigger and bigger the crowd began to disperse. But there were many die-hards still there at 4 p.m. gazing in wonder and pondering the amazing coincidence that the paths of our sun and moon take to create a once in a lifetime spectacle like this.