The Big Day is only 1 week away, and Paulding County, is getting as close to ready as we can be. We have had meetings, first responders have plans in place, the three school systems are not having school, fundraising events in some places, are set, and merchandising is prepared.
The Paulding County Emergency Management Agency has been planning for this event since September of 2022. County leaders have been working on making the once in a lifetime event be a success and more importantly, as safe as possible. Some of the areas of concern are; established locations for view, managing the increase in traffic, having enough food, refreshments and fuel on hand for the weekend. Organization of businesses and retail, including merchandising of items to remember the event by, Paulding County’s EMA Director, Edward Bohn stated.
The anticipation of nearly 5,000 people coming to the area, campsites are available, and we have been hearing family members from all over the United States are coming home to see the Solar Eclipse, and we just learned that the Hillsdale, Michigan school children are coming to the fairgrounds. It will all come down to the weather, and that’s why the NWS has put together a team of meteorologists across the country, to chart the weather patterns of that weekend and especially on the 8th of April.
When watching a partial or annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers. Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer, the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.
Here are some important safety guidelines to follow during a total solar eclipse:
• View the Sun through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer during the partial eclipse phases before and after totality.
• You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s bright face – during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.)
• As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright Sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the Sun.
First Responders, Fire, EMS the Sheriff’s Office and the Paulding County Hospital have coordinated efforts to provide service throughout the entire weekend and especially on Monday, April 8th. The State of Ohio has a statewide taskforce in place and has been in contact with a number of state and federal agencies to gear up for the overwhelming number of people, Director Bohn said.
Here are locations in Paulding County available to view the special event:
• Antwerp School
• Paulding School
• Grover Hill Park
• Auglaize Twp. Park
• Payne Parks
• Grover Hill School
• Fairgrounds
• Scott Parks
• Rochester Park
• Oakwood Park
• Oakwood School
• Paulding Parks
• Paulding Reservoir
• Latty Park
• Village Haviland
• Black Swamp Nature Center
If you have any questions or concerns about the eclipse, you can contact EMA Director Edward Bohn, at (419)399-3500 or email the office at ema@pauldingcounty-oh.com.
