Mark Bennett: Big moment in a small town: 'Magnificent display of nature' in Prairieton
Apr. 8—Travelers seldom come to Prairieton on purpose.
Slightly more that 200 people live in my quiet little hometown. Nearly that same amount showed up Monday afternoon on the grounds of Prairieton United Methodist Church for a rare moment — the first total solar eclipse in the Terre Haute region in 155 years.
Some came from the Prairieton community, including members of the church and local residents. Others came from as far off as Florida, Iowa and Illinois. Kids, young families, retirees, multiple races, different backgrounds. The crowd seated in lawn chairs and on blankets included my mom, Martha Bennett-Connell Stoelting, watching her first total eclipse at age 99.
All gazed in awe as totality arrived at 3:04 p.m.
"Just a magnificent display of nature," said Peggy Lehane, who traveled with Jon Johnston, from Gulf Breeze, Fla., to Prairieton — his hometown.
Indeed, "magnificent" aptly describes the experience.
People living in the 13-state path of totality read and heard about what would unfold in those 3 minutes and 9 seconds.
Stars and planets would appear. The sky would dim to a twilight. The temperature would cool. A brilliant corona would be visible to the naked eye, without the aid of protective glasses.
It all came true. Worries of cloudy skies, the usual in Hoosier Aprils, evaporated. It was sunny, warm, fun and breathtaking.
"It's just a feeling of being a part of the universe," said Marty Pierce.
She and her husband, Joe, drove from Polk City, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines specifically to watch the eclipse. They initially stopped in Terre Haute and spent the night. While there, the Polks studied a map supplied by the Total Eclipse of the Haute volunteers, and decided to drive to Prairieton. A team of church volunteers applied to become one of 30 Eclipse Ambassador sites for the Total Eclipse of the Haute regional events, and got picked.
"We saw this one and wanted to get out of the city, out in the country," Marty Pierce said.
The couple also trekked to Nebraska City, Neb., for the 2017 total eclipse there.
"In totality, the moon feels close," Joe Pierce said. "It puts you in a part of the solar system."
Most attendees were seeing their first total eclipse. Prairieton and the Terre Haute region hadn't witnessed such a rarity since Aug. 7, 1869. That's special. The moment got more special when the local church on a hill got the chance to serve as an Eclipse Ambassador site.
Thirteen volunteers organized the event, supplemented by equipment supplied from the Terre Haute Children's Museum. They began meeting in November, said Lou Ann Pence, a longtime church member and Prairieton native.
"I just want people to have a really good time, to leave here with a smile on their face, and to know we're open and they're welcome here," Pierce said.
The day gave everybody a reason to smile. A barbecue vendor fed them. Kids from Hoosier Prairie Elementary School drew eclipse pictures displayed at the church. A special telescope allowed visitors to watch the moon gradually pass in front of the sun. Children and adults got their faces painted, and painted their own pictures. A Total Eclipse of the Haute tent let sky gazers safely see the eclipse through a tinted roof.
"Having a place where our kids can come and gather, spend the day, rather than going into town, is great," said Prairieton volunteer Jennifer Nickel, also the principal at nearby Hoosier Prairie.
Several of her students attended. Funds from the church's Eclipse Ambassador role provided prizes for the top three pictures crafted by the Hoosier Prairie students. The eclipse is a big deal at the school.
"We've been talking about this for months," Nickel said.
Mike Hunt, a church volunteer, handled the "crucial" stuff — porta-potties, parking and garbage. He also pointed out the spiritual element of the eclipse felt by many.
"The hands of God are here," Hunt said. "It's more than just the physical."
A powerful internal warmth was indeed real as the moon blocked the core of the sun, leaving just the sparkling corona. A sunset glow completely surrounded the horizon. It was hard to speak, or think of adequate words. Just "wow," over and over. Quiet covered the church lawn, disrupted only by giggling kids and a clueless underage dirt-biker revving his buzzing engine right as totality hit. A reminder the world can be beautiful, and bothersome, at the same time.
Once the 3 minutes and 9 seconds of totality elapsed, there were gasps as a sliver of the sun burst brightly into view, prompting the watchers to put their special glasses back on.
It reunited old friends and relatives. Jon Johnston came back to Prairieton, where he grew up in the 1950s and '60s. He and Peggy Lehane wanted to see the eclipse, and his hometown was right in the path. So they drove from their home in the Florida panhandle.
"I had to come up," Johnston said.
He saw high school friends and Prairieton relatives. "The eclipse brought a lot of us second-, third- and fourth-cousins together for the first time in 50 years," Johnston said.
A group of 13 seniors from the Danville Community College's community education program took a bus from that Illinois city to Prairieton just for the eclipse. When I stepped aboard the bus momentarily and asked the group if they enjoyed the moment, they applauded and cheered loudly.
Each of those 200-plus people saw something rare and gorgeous. The eclipse earned those cheers.
Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
