BELLVILLE — Steven Pierce still remembers viewing a partial solar eclipse during his youth.
Now a father of three, Pierce couldn’t pass up the opportunity to witness the 2024 total solar eclipse with his children.
The Pierce family, residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan, traveled nearly five hours to Bellville for a weekend getaway at the Wishmaker House Bed and Breakfast.
“I thought it’d (eclipse) be cool to see. I saw one as a kid — but it wasn’t total,” Pierce said.
“It was awesome and I was probably around their (kids) age, so I thought it’d be sweet. We didn’t go anywhere for spring break this year, so this was a nice little mini-break.”
School’s out for the solar eclipse
The Pierce family joined a growing crowd at Van Ross Wade Park, located next to the Wishmaker House, to enjoy the full experience Monday afternoon.
Spectators could begin viewing the astronomical event as early as 1:57 p.m.
Emmarie and Graham Pierce, two of Steven’s three children, couldn’t overlook a day off from school. The siblings agreed it was one of the day’s highlights.
“I’m just happy we don’t have school,” Emmarie said with a grin, adding she was excited to spend the experience in the path of totality.
Besides a day outside — Graham explained he was eager to see how dark the environment would become and for the temperature to drop.
The National Weather Service in Cleveland projected temperatures to fall up to four degrees in Northwest Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio.
Bellville was an ‘awesome’ place to enjoy solar eclipse
Steven decided to bring his family to Bellville hoping to avoid large gatherings of eclipse chasers.
“We thought about Cleveland — but then saw the number of people who were showing up,” he said. “We looked for a nice town around the area. This place (Bellville) is awesome.”
As totality began around 3:12 p.m., the Pierce family and those gathered at the downtown park enjoyed a little more than three minutes of daytime darkness.
Cheers and clapping could be heard around the park as the phenomenon occured.
The Pierce family plans on enjoying dinner in Bellville before embarking on their trip back to Michigan — taking once-in-a-lifetime memories back with them.
“We’ll probably head out (after dinner) because the kids have school tomorrow,” he said. “Only one day off.”