For the handful of people who haven’t heard, Logan County is gearing up to be an eclipse destination when the moon blots out the sun for three minutes and thirty seconds on Monday, April 8, 2024. And Indian Lake has “prime viewing location” written all over it.
With that in mind, the lake’s chamber of commerce conducted a meeting on Thursday morning, Sept. 21, for its members, police, media and community leaders. LuLu’s at the Lake hosted the gathering.
Guest speaker Helen Norris with the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and chamber president Amber Fagan gave updates and answered questions during the hour-long presentation.
“Obviously it’s going to help our economy,” Fagan stated afterward.
“Everyone will be slammed—all the restaurants, all the Airbnbs, all the hotels.”
Unfortunately, since they have yet to break ground on the new Cobblestone Hotel, it’s unlikely it will be up and running by April.
In preparation for the total eclipse of the sun, the chamber has already created a logo, ordered glasses, and reserved several food trucks and even some portable toilets.
Indian Lake has chosen the phrase Moon-Day as their theme to go with other area towns, like Moonshade for West Liberty and Moon Glow for Bellefontaine.
All three areas are hosting events that April weekend and have Facebooks pages with the details.
Fagan said they are offering free promotions for chamber members. She also encouraged area restaurants that are usually closed on Mondays to consider opening that day.
“This will be an even larger group than our busiest summer weekend,” she told the attendees. “I recommend restaurants have a simplified menu, maybe even a buffet,” and added they should keep it as easy as possible for their staff.
According to Norris, nearby Shelby County, which has Sidney as its county seat, has no accommodations left as of now. Places are filling up fast. They believe we’ll see people not only from across the United States but possibly even flying in from overseas.
With that in mind, Norris shared several issues we can expect that weekend, and her suggestions as we plan ahead:
• Because of the vast number of vehicles we can expect, you should gas up your car about seven to 10 days in advance and prepare for standstill traffic. The EMA and emergency services have already started preplanning designated emergency routes. They anticipate traffic will return to normal levels within 24 hours.
Joe Freyhof, chief of police for the Russells Point Police Department, feels Indian Lake has an advantage.
“This is something we deal with every year,” he said, “so we already have a great foundation based on years and years of annual fireworks preparation.”
• We can also expect a shortage of food during that week. Stores and restaurants should stock up on extra supplies and families/individuals are advised to buy groceries ahead of time.
• Because of traffic issues and the fact the eclipse will take place between 3:08 and 3:19 p.m.—just as most students are heading home— the area schools have already planned to close that day.
• It is never safe to look at the sun during an eclipse so solar viewing glasses are imperative. The Indian Lake chamber has ordered custom, NASA-approved glasses with the unique code for our county’s information and emergency alerts on the side (see below). Contact the chamber to find out more.
• You can register now for the aforementioned 2024 solar eclipse information and emergency alerts by texting locoeclipse to 618-589-1337. This number will stay active until about two weeks after April 8. It will include severe weather alerts.
• Due to the large number of people in the area—Norris estimates the county will at least double in size—cell- phone use could be compromised. If phones are ineffective, especially that after- noon, it’s recommended you have a backup plan for connecting with family members and loved ones. For instance, setup a designated meeting
place in case you lose track of each other.
• To make sure they’re prepared, the EMA will conduct an exercise for emer- gency responders sometime at the beginning of November.
“We’re waiting to confirm with all of them before we publicly announce the date,” Norris explained. “We’ll be able to practice a unified command response and possibly have a table- talk with business owners.”
Those who want to know more can follow the chamber’s plans on their Facebook page, Moon-day at Indian Lake. Their next meeting on the event will take place at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, at The Lighthouse.