People watch eclipse at Havre library

A large crowd gathered Monday at Havre-Hill County Library to take advantage of eclipse glasses and watch a partial eclipse.

Unlike neighboring Wyoming, the moon only partially blotted out the sun in Montana. Nevertheless, more than 100 people packed the lawn of the west and east sides of the library to share the momentous event, which peaked around 11:38  a.m.

The library received 30 pairs of eclipse glass that NASA sent to state libraries all over the country, which in turn dispersed them throughout their state. It took less than 10 minutes, library director Rachel Rawn said, before all the glasses were handed out.

"We started handing them out a little before 10," Rawn said. "It was like five  minutes and they were already handed out."

Rawn asked people to share glasses so everyone would catch a glimpse. Some people had brought their own glasses, and many brought welding-style helmets - others real welding helmets - to peer through.

Charles and Autumn Gwynn were sharing one pair of glasses between them and their seven children. Charles is from Havre, but the family lives in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, where, they both said, a total eclipse happened.

To further add to the irony, Autumn said, she is originally from Casper, Wyoming, another place where the moon completely blocked the sun.

The Gwynns, who work at a ministry in Scottsbluff, are in Havre visiting family as part of a yearlong vacation traversing the U.S.

Morb Wicks from Chester came to Havre because she had heard there were glasses. Like most people, she shared glasses and the event with her friends.

"It was remarkable to see the changes," she said after the partial eclipse had peaked.

Wicks said she was a Bozeman teacher the last time an eclipse graced Montana in 1979. She and her students crafted cardboard boxes with peek holes to watch the eclipse that year. That eclipse, she said, "had a lot more activity."

Wicks said she was glad she made it to Monday's gathering eclipse because she got to share the moment with friends.