We usually report on events from Monkton’s past but in this case we have some history in the making. The total solar eclipse on Monday April 8 brought approximately 200 people to the Town Hall for a party organized by a small committee: Marilyn Cargill, Teri and Ralph Fitz-Gerald, Cindy Belanger and Jessica Demeritt. There were a variety of activities located at the Town Hall, at the Monkton Church and in the field in between, including a sing along, art projects, a planet walk, games, trivia, yoga with sun salutations, a major telescope, and food trucks.
The Monkton Museum and Historical Society contributed by creating a Time Capsule where over 100 people filled in a form called “I Was There!”. Contributions to the box included publications from the MMHS, a variety of town reports, a replica of the town flag, notes from elementary students, “job alike” notes to people in the future who hold the same job as the note-writer, articles from the last solar eclipse in 1932, and much more.
Write ups of the event can be found in the Addison Independent and the Middlebury College paper among others. Social media was humming with photos of the eclipse itself and the many smaller gatherings across town. It was an historic day indeed.