A Solar Eclipse of the Heart
By: Jordan-Ashley Walker, Charlotte Communications & Marketing
The year is 1979.
President Jimmy Carter was in the Oval Office.
Kenneth R. Harris was serving as mayor of Charlotte.
The song “Too Much Heaven” by the Bee Gees climbed to the top of the Billboard charts.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center hadn’t yet been built.
1979 was the last time the contiguous U.S. saw a total solar eclipse — Feb. 26, 1979, to be precise. During a solar eclipse, the sun will disappear behind the moon, causing temperatures to drop and the skies to darken.
And now, nearly 40 years later, the United States will again be treated to a total solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21. The City of Charlotte is located about 80 miles outside the path of totality of the eclipse, meaning that we’ll see about a 90 percent eclipse.
From start to finish, the eclipse will take about three hours, with the peak for Charlotte taking place at 2:40 p.m. and lasting about two and a half minutes.
When City of Charlotte employees Dianne Frederick, Amy Ashburg and Amy Wallace heard about the upcoming solar eclipse, they knew it would be a great opportunity to engage the workforce and the community.
Frederick, Ashburg and Wallace worked together to organize a GovPorch event on the CMGC plaza where employees and the public can gather together to watch the celestial show.
It’ll be a chance for everyone to come together and witness a historic event.
“You’ll be able to see the city is bigger than just your department,” said Ashburg, an organization development consultant. “You’ll see the universe is bigger, too.”
If the eclipse and employee fellowship weren’t enough of a draw, the GovPorch event will also have ice cream trucks from 1–3 p.m. selling snow cones, packaged ice cream (such as popsicles and ice cream sandwiches), soft ice cream cones and real Italian ice.
“We wanted everyone to have a little fun,” said Frederick, CMGC facility manager. “Our days are filled with going to meetings and assisting customers. This is an opportunity for everyone to come together and enjoy the solar eclipse. This is all about collaboration.”
Frederick, who has been with the city for 12 years, said she and her team are always looking for ways to help showcase the great things going on in city government. Ashburg, in looking for programming for GovPorch, partnered with Frederick to highlight the eclipse and also to provide another opportunity for people to enjoy the CMGC plaza.
“You just don’t get a big, open space like that in Uptown,” Ashburg said.
Anyone attending the GovPorch event does need to keep a few things in mind.
Frederick encourages everyone to bring their own eclipse glasses to ensure eye safety. During these three hours of the eclipse, never look directly at the sun without proper eyewear. The glasses you purchase should be marked ISO 12312–2 (sometimes written as ISO 12312–2:2015). Filters that are ISO 12312–2 certified reduce visible sunlight and block solar UV and IR radiation.
For more information about the solar eclipse, visit NASA’s website. For information about travel during the eclipse, visit NCDOT’s website.
After the August 2017 total solar eclipse, the next solar eclipse that can be seen in the continental United States will be on Oct.14, 2023, which will be visible from Northern California to Florida.
