Residents look up at the sky at a solar eclipse viewing party at the Benicia Public Library. Unfortunately, in many parts of Benicia, the eclipse was itself eclipsed by cloudy weather. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

As the late Leonard Nimoy once remarked, “A solar eclipse, the cosmic ballet goes on.”
Like the rest of the country, Benicia witnessed this space dance. Some even gathered with their fellow citizens to watch the moon partially block out the sun.
Unfortunately, in many parts of Benicia, the eclipse was obscured by the overcast weather, save for a few brief glimpses of a crescent sun through the passing clouds. When this happened, people cheered.
Visible eclipse or not, excitement still rang through the air Monday morning. The Benicia Public Library hosted an eclipse viewing party, which began at 8:30 a.m. Solar eclipse viewing glasses were handed out, and eclipse-decorated cookies were available for consumption. The library estimated more than 150 people were in attendance for the viewing party.
The idea for an eclipse viewing party began with NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration contacted all public libraries within the United States and offered to ship out eclipse viewing glass and suggested they host parties celebrating this less than frequent event. It was the first time since 1918 that a total solar eclipse could be viewed across the continental United States.
Amber Kelly, the event coordinator and social media director at the Benicia library, helped organized the viewing party. Kelly assisted in passing out eclipse glasses and answered questions about the scientific event.
“I’ve never seen it,” Kelly said. “You know it would be fun to go out there. Two little kids outside made their own viewers out of cereal boxes. That’s super cute. We have little tiny little kids out of school, and we have people who have come out in a wheelchair and walkers. And every age is represented here. So that’s really awesome.”
In attendance at the viewing party was Khris Brigham. Brigham remembers the first time she saw a solar eclipse. It was 1963, and she made a box pinhole projector to safely view the event. The mother of a first-year student at California State University, Chico said she came out to see the eclipse because she viewed it as an exciting piece of history.
“I kind of like that whole big change and being able to experience the light to dark and light again,” Brigham said. “I just think it’s a very exciting community event.”
The library was one of the areas where cloud coverage often blocked the view of the eclipse. Some, like Brigham, stayed hoping the fog would dissipate. Others left in search of clearer skies. Moreover still, others went inside to view a livestream of the eclipse provided by NASA.
With options being limited in Benicia, Interstate 680 to Fairfield became a popular area to pull over at and view the eclipse.
“We truly hope everybody enjoyed their solar eclipse today which was barely visible due to our micro-climate here in our Bay Area,” The Contra Costa Highway Patrol wrote in a Facebook post. “But hopefully you were at your home, on a mountaintop, or in a safe location and not one of these people behaving badly.”

The eclipse as viewed from Fairfield. (Photo by George Johnston)

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