By STEVE MARTIN
Sheridan Historical Society
How are you going to observe the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8? We would like to invite you to come to the Sheridan Historical Society Museum and join the Observation Party and catch a piece of celestial history.
We will open the Museum at 1 p.m. on that Monday afternoon, and we invite the public to come in and have light refreshments and enjoy community networking. Weather permitting, we will have seating outside on the sidewalk, and weather not-permitting, you can come inside and enjoy the museum. We will also have free eclipse glasses while our supply lasts.
The last total solar eclipse to cover Sheridan was in the year 957, over a 1,000 years ago. I’m old, but I’m not that old, so I was not here for that one. (Neither was Indiana.) The next one beyond this year’s will occur in 2153, and I doubt I’ll be here for that one either. I do remember a partial solar eclipse in 2017 and a vague memory of one in the mid-1980’s.
Lest you think all of this is going to be free, well think again, my friend. The cost to you will be that you give us history about your previous eclipse experiences, total and/or partial. We museum folks want to capture your thoughts on video and preserve this as a part of our oral history collection. Your great-great-great-great grandchildren just might enjoy your story, told in your own voice and picture in the year 2153. So come to our Observation Party and come prepared with a short story or two.
We hope you will be able to join us for this once-in-our-lifetime event. It is something we can tell our children and grandchildren that we did on Monday, April 8, 2024. Sheridan is expecting hundreds of visitors to our community that day and we need to give them a warm welcome. You can be a part of that.
The Museum is located at 315 S. Main St. in beautiful uptown Sheridan, just on the country side of Hamilton County and functions as the northwest gateway to the rest of our magnificent county.