Page 4 - Spring 2024

HOULTON, THE END WAS HERE…

The Maine Eclipse

By Chris Anderson, ’81,
Eclipse Committee Chairperson

The greater Houlton area, Aroostook County, and Johanna Johnston. A
selected areas of Maine experienced unprecedent rich and informative
visitation and priceless notoriety as the Great North website was created.
American Total Solar Eclipse cloaked our state from west The committee
to east in total darkness on the afternoon of April 8th, launched an aggressive
2024. Early awareness of the eclipse trajectory occurred media campaign to
in early 2019 during the first few meetings of the newly build awareness of
formed Attraction Committee of Greater Houlton as the attributes of the
it was just getting underway. Special thanks to Fred area and encourage
Grant ’88, Nancy Ketch ’82 and Lucas Anderson ’12 for visitation. They
their early inspiration and excitement about the path of purchased special
totality running directly through the Town of Houlton. Johanna Johnston eclipse glasses in
Submitted Photo
preparation and
In those early days of discussion, Fred showed us a distributed 10,000 to all Northern Maine schools in the
countdown webpage he created to build excitement. path of totality educating our students about the science
The committee began reading NASA research and to keep their eyes safe. A nationally renowned
documents, consultants’ ‘white papers’, handbooks and eclipse artist was commissioned to design a signature
poured through news clippings from the 2017 total print commemorating the event. The committee
solar eclipse immersing ourselves on the topic. Nancy identified viewing areas called ‘Star Parks’ thus creating
called the towns and cities in the 2017 path of totality an Eclipse campus of the entire town’s assets. A
to gain valuable insight on what we could expect. By production
2021 planning began in earnest when the Attraction company
Committee formed the Maine Eclipse Sub-Committee requested
to focus energy and build upon what was expected permission
to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. The committee set to follow the
about to raise money through sponsors and grants, committee’s
rally businesses, the faith community, schools and work and
individuals to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime produce a
event. The committee branded the effort ‘The Maine documentary
Eclipse’ to make Documentary Group film about
visitation to Houlton, Photo by Paula Woodworth ‘70 our eclipse
Southern Aroostook planning process. The
and Northern Maine Eclipse became the ‘call-to-
the epicenter to action’ to launch another
experience this Attraction Committee
unique celestial initiative, Gateway
phenomenon. The Ambassador of Aroostook.
mounting workload This new initiative was
required the hiring designed to prepare,
of a part-time Eclipse educate and energize
Events Associate, Gateway Ambassador Logo volunteers on the art of
Submitted Photo

4 www.houltonalumni.com