Eyes on the sky in New Madrid

With the Mississippi River in the background, Yoga Mama Emi works to capture the energy of the sun on April 8 as the moon begins to make its journey in front of the sun. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

NEW MADRID, Mo. — The temperature dropped, the street lights came on and day became night. Then the crowd along New Madrid’s levee front broke into applause as the moon crossed into the path of the sun creating a total eclipse Monday afternoon.

New Madrid drew visitors not just from across the country but around the world for the opportunity to view the eclipse over the Mississippi River.

One visitor exclaimed the town was the perfect spot, not too crowded, a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and an earthquake fault line.

Linda Shackelford and Amy Morris from Baldwin, Miss., relax on the Mississippi River levee to take in the April 8 solar eclipse.(Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

Yoga Mama Emi, originally from Japan, made the trip from Ohio to witness the eclipse. As the moon began to move across the face of the sun, she tapped lightly on bowls creating bell-like sounds and explained she was trying to capture the sun’s energy.

“The total eclipse symbolizes the death of the sun,” she said. “The death of sun means we can quit an old bad habit then as it returns we can make a new affirmation to become a better person.”

Tucked up next to the New Madrid Historical Museum Allen Arias was balancing a camera and a laptop. He was live-streaming the eclipse to the followers of his Spanish-speaking YouTube channel, where topics include history and science.

Allen Arias set up next to the New Madrid Historical Museum to live stream the total solar eclipse on his Spanish-speaking utube channel. Arias discusses history and science with the followers on his channel. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

City Administrator Aaron Griffin accompanied by City Clerk Paige Keene spoke with and videoed the many visitors to the community. He said he was very pleased with the number of people who took part in the town’s LeveEclipse.

“We had a great turnout. A lot of citizens came out. We had folks from all across the country. We had great weather, a lot of fun, a great event,” Griffin said.

Jeff Grunwald, executive director of the New Madrid Historical Museum, called the number of visitors incredible.

The moon moves in front of the sun at New Madrid on April 8. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

“We had more people Sunday than we had last January,” Grunwald noted on Monday. “I have some folks from Norway in the gift shop. We had folks from Scotland this morning and had consecutive days of people from Oxford, England.”

The list of those from the United States ranged from California to Georgia and Mississippi to Michigan, he added.

“This has been a really great day,” he continued. “We are just super glad people are getting out and experiencing some science-related activities. We feel like the museum is a nice pairing for that, too.”

Ashley Sanchez, Jett Hawkins and Todd Harris joined the solar eclipse watch party at Immaculate Conception School in New Madrid on April 8. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

Pairing science, history, art and geography were just part of the lessons for students at Immaculate Conception Catholic School as they prepared for Monday’s eclipse.

Allison Fowler, ICS principal, said the teachers also talked with the students about how rare it is to experience a total eclipse. “We hope that they gain an appreciation for the historical aspect of today’s event and for all those events they may experience in their lifetimes,” she said.

It will be a while before they may be able to experience another eclipse.

Madeline Young concentrates on the view while wearing her special solar eclipse mask during eclipse viewing party at Immaculate Conception School on April 8. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse to occur in the contiguous U.S. won’t be until Aug. 23, 2044. And then it will only shadow three states in its path, Montana and North and South Dakota.