In the remote town of Burgeo on the east coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, some residents are enthusiastically waiting to view Monday\u2019s rare solar eclipse and recreate history of an island discovered by Captain James Cook.
\nBritish explorer Captain Cook, who was in Newfoundland in 1766 witnessed the solar eclipse of Aug. 5 while conducting astronomical observations and named the place Eclipse Island.
\nOn Monday, the residents of the fishing town near the now uninhabited Eclipse Island will gather to celebrate the celestial event and start rebuilding a historic beacon on the island while watching the eclipse, where totality will last about two minutes.
\n\u201cIf we get 30 to 40 people show up here just for the eclipse, I will be ecstatic,\u201d Michael Ward, the manager of Burgeo townhall told Reuters. Burgeo, home to about 1,100 residents, is more than a nine-hour drive from St. John\u2019s, the capital of Canadian province Newfoundland and Labrador.
\nWard said the 8-foot (2.4 meter) tall beacon was originally built in the 1950-60s by community members while the restoration will be funded by the National Marine Conservation Area and Sandbanks Provincial Park and run by solar power.
\n\u201cAny more than that would put too much pressure (on businesses),\u201d he added.
\nBurgeo residents will join millions of eclipse enthusiasts along a slender zone averaging about 115 miles (185 km) wide slicing through Mexico into Texas and across 14 other U.S. states and Quebec and four more provinces of Canada.
\nThe solar eclipse, the first of its kind since 1979 in Canada, is creating a carnival atmosphere and many have been making travel plans for months. In Niagara, local government has declared a state of emergency with a record more than a million people expected to converge along the majestic falls and the popular tourist destination.
\nGiving true meaning to Eclipse Island, in Burgeo, a community-focused event at the Government Wharf will gather people to sing songs, restore the beacon, participate in traditional smudging ceremonies and drumming, while celebrating indigenous culture and heritage.
\n\u201cWe want everybody (the local residents) to be involved\u2026 It\u2019s going to be quite a show,\u201d Ward said.
\nArch Durnford, a local restaurant owner who witnessed the last solar eclipse decades ago when he was a teenager, is preparing a special dish for the menu to mark the occasion.
\nAs a resident and business owner in the town, he is looking forward to celebrating the day with his community, despite expected challenges related to weather and catering to tourists.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s interesting that we\u2019re actually going to see this once in our lifetime,\u201d Durnford said excitedly.
\n(Reuters)solar eclipse. solar eclipse, Eclipse Island, Burgeo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Residents of the remote town of Burgeo in Newfoundland and Labrador are eagerly awaiting Monday’s rare solar eclipse to recreate history on Eclipse Island, discovered by Captain James Cook. The town is preparing to celebrate the celestial event by rebuilding a historic beacon on the island while watching the eclipse, with totality lasting about two minutes. The restoration of the beacon will be funded by the National Marine Conservation Area and Sandbanks Provincial Park and run by solar power. The eclipse will be part of a path slicing through Mexico into Texas and across 14 U.S. states and four provinces of Canada, creating a carnival atmosphere with millions of enthusiasts making travel plans. In Burgeo, a community-focused event will include singing, drumming, and traditional ceremonies to celebrate indigenous culture and heritage. Local residents are excited to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4156,461,5479,186,913,5480,2339,2134,1469,2460,4098,303,5482,415,658,148,2779,961,2124,5328,1004,3775,957,3583,5481,1424,1182,339,18],"class_list":["post-7266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-atmosphere","tag-british","tag-burgeo","tag-business","tag-canada","tag-captain-james-cook","tag-carnival","tag-challenges","tag-coast","tag-community","tag-conservation","tag-culture","tag-eclipse-island","tag-government","tag-history","tag-local","tag-local-government","tag-mexico","tag-park","tag-party","tag-power","tag-pressure","tag-restaurant","tag-restoration","tag-solar-eclipse","tag-tourist","tag-travel","tag-weather","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n