Orange mayor explains why city’s eclipse glasses didn’t work

ORANGE, Ohio (WJW) – Orange Village Mayor Judson Kline couldn’t wait to witness history.

His city was in the path of Monday’s total solar eclipse, and he wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to see it.

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“We ordered them, we delivered them and making it known to the residents that we had these available and would be distributing them,” added Kline.

The them that the mayor is referring to: 1,500 eclipse glasses bought by the city for its residents.

It was supposed to be a kind gesture, but somehow it turned into a nightmare.

Fox 8 asked Mayor Kline when city officials first learned about their glasses not working.

His answer: I learned it the hard way,

Yes, Mayor Kline himself was wearing a pair of the glasses during the eclipse.

When he looked up, all he could see was total darkness.

“And then I kept getting texts from friends saying, ‘I don’t think these things work,'” Kline explained.

City officials are trying to get a hold of the company for an explanation as to why their glasses didn’t work.

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But so far…

“We have not gotten a response back from them and, we have been doing that since Tuesday. Since we realized what the situation was and needed to act on it,” shared Kline.

In any way they can, Mayor Kline hopes to make up for what happened.

At the same time, they’ll keep working to get their money back on the investment.

“It’s obvious that they can’t redo the eclipse, so that can’t do anything other than that,” added Kline.

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