Eclipse 2017 is almost here, Sonoma County

The final few weeks leading up to Monday’s solar eclipse have been a bit of a mad dash for Sonoma County residents figuring out their plans.

First, the Sonoma County Library announced it would give away free solar glasses. They ran out in a week and directed people to Shutterbug Camera’s Santa Rosa and Petaluma locations, which had ordered in a bunch for the occasion.

They ran out, too.

Online, prices for the usually inexpensive glasses have more than tripled on Amazon in the past two weeks, with a five-pack of certified solar eclipse glasses going for $60, according to a report by online media platform Mashable.

While many Sonoma County residents have plans to head to the “path of totality” - the 70-mile-wide shadow where the moon will entirely block out the sun - back at home, others are readying for what will still be about an 80 percent eclipse when it peaks just before 10:15 a.m.

“Weeks ago before all this craziness happened, we did place some orders specifically for the eclipse, and initially it was very slow - no one was interested,” said Francis Sarg, a manager at Shutterbug, where glasses infrequently were given away for free and later sold in a pack of five for $12.99. “We sold one or two here or there, but as it’s gotten closer, we took off like crazy.”

Sarg said the store is still getting a huge number of calls a day because businesses as far away as Berkeley are referring customers to the North Bay camera retailer, which started bringing in eclipse-related items - camera filters, telescopes, binoculars, glasses - in January, of which a very limited supply remains.

Luckily for Santa Rosa High School students, science teacher Jesse Hauch started thinking about how to approach the eclipse months ago. He ordered about 2,500 of the specialty glasses for students and staffers in the spring, thanks to funding from the school’s foundation, said Principal Brad Coscarelli.

To afford students and staff as much viewing time as possible, SRHS will also have a modified bell schedule Monday, allowing for a full 40 minutes outside during the eclipse’s peak, Coscarelli said.

Sonoma County’s Department of Health Services is getting in on the eclipse action, as well. A group of organizers ordered 200 of the eclipse-viewing glasses to be sold for $5 each as a fundraiser for the Mark A. Kostielney Health Careers Scholarship at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Employees snapped the lot up in three days. A second order, this time for 350 glasses, sold out, too, said the department’s Kelly Elder, who helped organize the fundraiser. In all, they raised a record for the department, she said.

Monday morning, employees participating in the fundraiser will gather for about 15 minutes during the eclipse’s peak.

“It’s a really amazing event, and I think a neat opportunity to share the experience,” Elder said.

For those still scrambling to solidify their eclipse plans, make like Kenwood Elementary School’s sixth-graders and head to Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, where docents from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park’s Robert Ferguson Observatory (including two of the school’s sixth-grade students) will be on hand to operate solar telescopes and pass out some 200 viewing glasses the observatory squirreled away for the occasion.

Kenwood students will be participating in a citizen-science experiment, using digital thermometers to track how Santa Rosa’s temperature changes as the moon makes its path in front of the sun, said sixth-grade teacher Sheila Morrissey.

Morrissey actually made plans a year ago to be in the path of totality Monday, in Government Point, Oregon - the first point in the United States to experience the eclipse. But about a month ago, plans changed and she had to cancel.

“This is the next best thing,” she said.

Sonoma County residents also have the option of heading to the observatory in Sugarloaf park, where still more volunteers will help visitors view the eclipse through solar telescopes.

For those not interested in traveling, San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences is inviting people to help with a citizen-science experiment through its iNaturalist smartphone app.

The experiment, titled “Life Responds,” asks people to record observations about how animals (wild, pet and farm types) react to the darkening sky and the drop in temperature, and report them through the app.

The experiment was spearheaded by Elise Ricard, public program supervisor for the museum, who is headed to Oregon for the eclipse.

“When I was in Australia in 2012 for their solar eclipse, I was standing on the beach as the rain forest was behind me, and as the moment of totality approached, the rain forest went quiet,” she said. “We wanted to compile the first wide-scale data collection on this topic.”

Ricard said she thinks participating in the experiment will help people connect even more to the eclipse.

“From my experience, ... it’s recognizing that it’s not just affecting you and other people, but also affecting other life on the planet,” she said. “It creates this really interesting sense of unity with the world.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.