Eclipse visitors wowed by Meadville, too

Apr. 13—The Moon's steady march across the face of the sun Monday — and the resulting march of the Moon's shadow over Meadville — was the inevitable result of a cosmic alignment.

The reactions of those who traveled from across the region, in many cases driving two, three, four or more hours, on the other hand, could have gone in any direction.

But interview after interview with eclipse watchers resulted in a consistent and unsolicited pattern of positive remarks on Meadville. Visitors liked the people they encountered, the businesses they patronized and the eclipse-related events they attended and shared an all-around positive impression of the city.

Jane Staver traveled from near Hershey with her mother, Ruth Firth, 90, and mother-in-law, Anne Staver, 93 to witness the eclipse.

The three women arrived early — "I'm a planner," Jane Staver said — then ate breakfast at Diamonds All Star Grille and treated themselves to soft pretzels as they visited the Market House before parking at Diamond Park and setting up their chairs near the fountain.

"What a beautiful little town," Jane Staver said.

"We had a good meal," Firth added.

"You couldn't ask for a better environment," Anne Staver said.

Nearby, Terry Hugill was enjoying the same environment, having set up his camera on a tripod on the asphalt next to the park. Hugill was visiting friends and family in Maryland when he and a friend decided the chance to see the eclipse was too good to pass up, despite the four-hour drive.

"This is a cool town, I've got to tell you," Hugill said. He, too, had stopped at Diamonds before heading to the park.

"Really great food, nice ambiance. They were busy, and they took good care of us," Hugill said before glancing toward the many people filling the park. "The people are friendly, can't ask for better conditions — I kind of want to just hang out here later and maybe — because it's Meadville — so I've got to go find some mead."

Unaware that metered parking was free for the eclipse, Hugill was originally unwilling to spring for the maximum five hours allowed for many Diamond Park spots. He changed his mind when he realized the meter rate was 25 cents per hour, having expected to pay more.

"Nobody has quarters anymore, by the way," he said. "Let's figure out how to do this without change."

Hugill did figure it out, using the public Wi-Fi available at Diamond Park to download the meterEZ app that allows visitors to pay for metered parking using their phones.

"We did that right here," he said, "so you can totally get it done. Those little details count. They, you know, make it easy to come here and do things."

Around the corner on Chestnut Street, Tasha Herman, owner of Diamonds, closed her business at noon, earlier than usual, in anticipation of Chestnut Street being closed to traffic and in response to employees interested in watching the eclipse.

The restaurant didn't offer any eclipse-related specials, nor did it inflate its usual prices, Herman said, but it had plenty of customers.

"It was like one of our weekend days," Herman said. "I felt like I was doing a Sunday all over again, but with a lot less employees."

Plenty of establishments did offer eclipse-themed options. Jennifer Whyte of Johnstown, for instance, got a Blue Moon beer from Chipper's Pub before settling into a camp chair next to her husband near the corner of Chestnut and Market streets. An orange slice floating on the top of her beverage nearly obscured the Belgian white-style liquid below, while Steve, her husband, had gone with a pint of Guinness, an appropriately dark beer for the occasion.

After scouting the weather and considering how far they were willing to drive, Jennifer Whyte said, Meadville looked like a "cute" option.

"I was like, perfect — and there's a pub," she said. "It's really a very nice little town. It's the first time we've been up here — that's why we came."

On top of the Market Square parking garage, Randy and Debra Sawyer of Easton, Maryland, praised "the cute little village" they encountered after finding a last-minute hotel room. Back in Diamond Park, Larry and Fran Pryluck of Amissville, Virginia, had good things to say about their lunch at Chipper's and how the city had closed Chestnut Street and other roads to traffic. Janet Weber of Arlington, Virginia, said she had arrived in the city around 9:30 a.m. and noticed efforts at historic preservation.

"It makes me very happy," Weber said.

City Manager Maryann Menanno said that additional police and emergency medical personnel were on duty Monday with auxiliary police deployed to assist in traffic control and Public Works personnel on call.

"We had prepped all of the street closures and had a plan that we reviewed prior to the event," she added.

Deputy Mayor Larry McKnight said that like the eclipse, the downtown crowd was "beautiful" to see.

"The atmosphere was just 'old Meadville,'" he said, "that's the best way I can describe it."

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.