'It looks like someone took a bite out of it': Joplin's eclipse provides opportunity for everyone

Apr. 8—Monday's eclipse represented something different for everyone. It was an opportunity for science and education but also a time to gather as a community and reflect on the nature of change at Creative Learning Alliance's future science center in downtown Joplin. The event capped a four-day "Solar-bration" festival celebrating the eclipse with three days of activities.

Pat and Mike Tamburrino sat in lawn chairs, holding hands as they looked up at the sun together with their glasses. They've lived in Joplin for 50 years and noted that at their age, they probably won't see the next eclipse.

During the last eclipse in 2017, Mike Tamburrino took photos of each phase of the sun, minute by minute, and stitched them together. It took a long time, but it was worth the effort, he said.

"It's God's nature, it's part of life," he said.

"I like the idea of light and darkness," added Pat Tamburrino. "It's just like spring and summer follow winter. The eclipse brings us into a dark place for a few minutes, and then everything's bright again. Everything's good again. I think everybody will remember it, especially the community coming together for it."

At 1:52 p.m., the clouds were thin enough for everyone to watch the eclipse.

On Monday, a section of Third Street was blocked off for food trucks. Children assembled UV bead bracelets and buttons, drew chalk art and planted seeds. An instructor from Girlfriends led a sun-and-moon-inspired yoga session. Community organizations and businesses, such as Spiva Center for the Arts and EaglePicher Technologies, offered activities as well.

"For today, we wanted to have an eclipse festival and bring the community together because there's excitement in numbers," said Neely Myers, executive director of the Creative Learning Alliance. "This is the last visible eclipse until 2045 here in Missouri, so we thought we'd take advantage of that and do a little science."

Eclipse glasses were the popular accessory of the day, but they weren't the only way to watch the moon obscure the sun. Visitors also built pinhole viewers out of cereal boxes, and colanders were available to show crescents on the sidewalk.

Myers said the timing of the solar eclipse was perfect for the Creative Learning Alliance's first big event at its new location — the former Joplin Public Library — and a good way to encompass a variety of sciences.

"There is all kinds of science in an eclipse," Myers said. "There's astronomy, there's thermal science, animal science, even fauna science. So many things all come together during an eclipse. The moon has an effect on the tides, so it will change the tides today. It will change the bugs today. It'll kind of change everything today."

Without sponsors like The Flanigan Group-Keller Williams Realty and EaglePicher, Myers said, they couldn't have made the event free for the community. Visit Joplin donated money to purchase eclipse glasses, and the alliance handed out 5,000 pairs throughout the weekend.

"We've been blown away," Myers said. "People are excited, and they've come out in force. We love science, and we love to share science. That there's so many people out here sharing it with us is exciting."

At the EaglePicher booth were many different coloring sheets, with spacemen and rockets, and a photo opportunity with a cutout of an astronaut. Jane Southwick, senior human resources manager with EaglePicher, said that for a technology company this was a good chance to get children interested in solar science. The well-attended eclipse event was also a time for community engagement and growth.

"As we add more and more businesses to Joplin, I think the businesses need to come together to support the community," Southwick said. "That's going to get more people involved in different events going on throughout the city. Everybody wants the city to grow, and everybody has ideas of what they want in Joplin. We have to support that."

For others, the eclipse represented time with family. Mothers held their children close as they secured eclipse glasses over their eyes. Krystle Maestas attended the event with her daughter-in-law and two granddaughters.

Under a darkening sky, she stood looking at the eclipse through a large reflective foil filter with her grandchildren. One side of the filter brightly reflected the sun's waning light and the other side reflected their smiling faces.

"The community getting together to do this is extremely awesome," Maestas said. "We won't have another one for 20 years, so my granddaughters will be in their 20s when they see another one. It's a monumental moment for us. I was afraid they weren't going to like it or understand it, but they think it's so cool."

Laurel Wike, director of Joplin East Classical Conversations, used the eclipse as an opportunity for instruction. She brought her homeschool students to the event for a field trip, and said it was a great opportunity to experience science together.

"Anytime you can experience science hands-on — or eyes-on — it's even better," Wike said. "I think they're enjoying that usually we think of the moon being a crescent, but now the sun is a crescent."

Wike said when son Ryker started homeschool preschool in 2017, they watched the eclipse together as a class. Seven years later, it's a full-circle moment with his classmates. Looking up at the sky, they've been fascinated to watch the sun disappear behind the moon.

"We think it looks like someone took a bite out of it," Ryker Wike said.