SEYMOUR, Ind. — As the countdown to the Great American Eclipse begins from the path of totality, in Seymour, Ind., you'll be hard pressed to find someone with waning excitement for Monday's once-in-a-lifetime view.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Dana Phillips, a member of the Lions Club of Seymour, said. "I heard a lot of people are coming from the north down here because their weather it's not going to be as good as ours."
"We tried to plan ahead—14 months worth of work by our team up here," Matt Nicholson, mayor of Seymour, said.
Nicholson said the city of 21,000 expects some 60,000 to 70,000 visitors Monday.
"I mean, I've loved space ever since I was a kid," Phillips said. "So this has been phenomenal for me to be able to part be a part of this."
"The numbers are—we're being told—are really big," Nicholson said. "Based off of what Hopkinsville, (Ky.) dealt with back in 2017."
For that reason, he said police will work overtime to boost security efforts.
"(We) have them available that way, if there is an emergency, we've got somebody a little bit closer than what you may have in a normal situation," Nicholson said.
Along with the thousands of visitors, will be hundreds of volunteers, like the Lion's Club of Seymour.
"We don't get paid for this. You know, in fact, we pay dues to be a member to go out and serve our community," Phillips said.
Mayor Nicholson says, when it comes to traffic, it's anyone's guess as to how it'll all play out.
"I don't have a good idea. Let's go that way," he said. "We're being told that the cell phone towers may be overloaded so that Google Maps may be a little tough. Right after the Eclipse."
"I think this area is pretty well set up as far as how our road system is," Phillips said. "We've studied the patterns from the other eclipses and found out what their downfalls were."
But post-Eclipse, the only thing that matters is the memories made during a truly unique, solar spectacle.
"It really is a historic day," Nicholson said. "I mean, you're looking 20 years before it passes through the area again."
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