SHELBY — Keith Rittenhouse worked for numerous years as an educator.
Now retired, that passion for educating continued on Monday at Black Fork Brewing Co. in Shelby, where a solar eclipse viewing party took place.
Rittenhouse brought a pair of eclipse binoculars and a telescope with an eclipse filter to share with other eclipse viewers at the brewery. He patiently explained to a few young patrons how to find the eclipse in the lenses.
“I had the great fortune to teach a class at Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools with a gentleman who taught the science part of space, and he had me as the industrial arts teacher come up with projects the kids could make,” he said.
“The kids made their own four-inch square reflector telescopes, and I taught them the safety principles of using the materials and the tools.”
Monday’s total solar eclipse wasn’t the first one experienced by Rittenhouse. He explained that in the late 1970s, as an elementary school student, he made a solar viewer from a shoebox.
But Rittenhouse was one of the only people in Shelby on Monday that had experienced a solar eclipse before. Many people traveled from near and far to see the moon pass in front of the sun for a full 192 seconds.
At the Black Fork Brewing viewing party, patrons Ray Cole and Kevin Snyder came from Texas and Alabama, respectively, to visit family — but seeing the eclipse was a nice bonus.
“We were in Gambier where our daughter goes to college, and we were looking for a place to watch the eclipse,” Cole said. “This wasn’t that far of a drive, and when we saw the brewery was doing a special event, we decided to come by.”
Down the road at Black Fork Commons in downtown Shelby, Newark resident Virginia Flanagan and her partner made a date of seeing the eclipse.
“It’s our first time seeing a full eclipse, and I’m enjoying it because I’m learning a lot,” she said.
Flanagan’s visit to Shelby on Monday was her first time coming to the city. However, at only 55 miles away, her journey was much closer than the one made by Terrence, who traveled all the way from Los Angeles, California.
“We were in North Canton and we were supposed to go up to Cleveland, but it seemed like a zoo, so we figured let’s find a different place,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a total eclipse, so this was my chance and I took it,” he said. “I hope to be able to see the corona and maybe see a comet or other planets, and whatever strange things might happen.”
