Eclipse scene in Colfax

Betty Dawley, Colfax, reacts to viewing the solar eclipse Monday morning through eclipse glasses. She was standing near Abundant Faith Studio on Main Street.

Various shots captured with a camera lens pressed to the special eclipse viewing glasses show the progression of the solar eclipse in Colfax Monday morning.

Dale and Liz Mann stand outside of the Hyde Out to view the eclipse.

A colander proved to be an effective tool for viewing the eclipse, with the moon’s path shown here.

The moon’s obstruction caused crescent-shaped streams of light to appear on sidewalks under trees.

Colfax residents took to the sidewalks Monday morning with an array of viewing devices to peer at the sun during the much-heralded solar eclipse. The eclipse here was scheduled to start at 9:13 a.m. and reach its darkest point, said to be 94 percent for this area, at 10:27 a.m.

The drop in sunlight turned out to be enough to turn on the streetlights along Main Street and Mill Street. Many noted a short cool down as the eclipse advanced, but temperature signs along the street did not show much of a drop.

Viewers used an array of special cardboard glasses and card viewers to watch the eclipse. One unique viewer turned out to be a colander with its many holes. Held up to the sun, the holes in the colander provided multiple copies of the moon advancing across the sun.

The multi-hole projection technique took another variation at the library where people discovered a Ritz cracker would perform the same function. The holes on the cracker projected the eclipse on white paper when held up to the sun.

Unlike the cardboard viewers which will now go into desk drawers, the crackers were converted back to munch mode after the event.

Many eclipse watchers noted they expected the drop in sunlight to be greater than what actually took place. The darkest point at 10:27 seemed to be about the equivalent of early evening when the sun drops behind the horizon.