The Orleans County Department of Tourism today announced that the county will be making solar eclipse glasses available to the public at no-charge, beginning Friday, March 1^st.  The county has 25,000 solar eclipse glasses to distribute.  The solar eclipse will pass over Orleans County on April 8.

“I know many residents are looking forward to the total solar eclipse and we want to make sure our residents can view this extraordinary event safely,” said Dawn Borchert, Director of Orleans County Tourism.  “We have locations for distribution spread across the county, so I encourage those interested in getting glasses to do so while supplies last.”

Borchert said the distribution of the glasses will be done through the county’s four libraries located in Medina, Albion, Lyndonville and Holley along with the Kendall Town Hall during normal business hours.  These are Orleans County-branded eclipse glasses that are ISO certified and are safe for direct solar viewing of the eclipse.  Families can visit these locations and pick up glasses for the number of family members they have in their households. 

The eclipse will happen on Monday, April 8th, 2024 and will start at 2:06pm in our area and will last until 4:34pm.  The prime viewing time will be: 3:19 to 3:23pm.

 “Dawn Borchert and her team have been promoting this for the last year and have information available for both residents and visitors on the different events that will be taking place throughout the weekend leading up to the eclipse,” said Lynne Johnson, Chairman of the Orleans County Legislature.  “The Legislature is very appreciative of our tourism department’s efforts, including organizing the distribution of the eclipse glasses.”

For more information on the eclipse, visit https://www.orleanscountytourism.com/events/solar-eclipse-2024.