The crowd looks at the sun safely through protective glasses during the solar eclipse Monday afternoon. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

Sun chips and moon pies were distributed as the eclipse approached in Washington Monday afternoon.

The eclipse party was held in Central Park by the Washington Public Library with approximately 200 people in attendance. Five-year-old Mia Perez explained what was happening as the sky grew darker, “The moon is going to go cover up the sun.” Librarian Jo Weidner was pleased with the crowd gathered, “We’re very excited with the turnout, yes. It was a kind of rocky start with the glasses, but I think everything has turned out wonderfully. We’re very excited.” The library was able to hand out approximately 1,000 safe viewing glasses to the public to view the astronomical event. For photos from the event visit KCII Radio’s Facebook page and listen to Tuesday’s Washington Page.