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On the afternoon of Monday, April 8, thousands of Vermont workers will get up from their computers or step away from their factory jobs, and head outside to see the moon eclipse the sun.
Lake Champlain Chocolates is shutting down its Williston plant at noon that day because so many people have asked for time off — though its Burlington café and four retail stores will be in full swing. Sock maker Darn Tough Vermont plans a half-day company-wide shutdown. The University of Vermont is canceling most of its regularly scheduled classes.
The eclipse that will shadow Vermont is more than a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event: It's a tourist attraction that is widely expected to turn a Monday workday upside down for much of the state. Roughly 160,000 visitors are expected — 50,000 of them in Burlington alone. So state and local decision makers are juggling the need to keep the roads clear with the imperative to help businesses capitalize on all those customers at the height of mud season, when tourism is usually dead quiet.
While many office workers are being asked to stay home, restaurant and retail workers will be out in force.
"To get extra business in April ... we're definitely going to jump on the bandwagon for that," said Frank Richardi, whose Lago Trattoria restaurant in Newport is usually closed on Mondays but will open for this occasion.
Whirligig Brewing in St. Johnsbury will also break tradition and open on Sunday and Monday. After boston.com named St. Johnsbury — a straight shot up Interstate 93 from Boston — the No. 1 place to view the eclipse, Whirligig co-owner Geoff Sewake decided to double his staffing, anticipating crowds. He plans to close the restaurant around 1:30 p.m. on Monday and reopen for dinner so staff and visitors alike can be outside while the moon briefly hides the sun.
"We don't want anybody to miss this opportunity," he said.
In Burlington, the sky will begin to darken around 2:15 p.m. as the moon starts to obscure the sun; it will go completely dark at 3:26 p.m. The "path of totality" — where the eclipse will completely block the sun — includes the northwestern corner of the state, giving St. Albans and Enosburg Falls the longest exposure, three minutes and 34 seconds. Burlington will see about three minutes and 15 seconds of total eclipse, with the partial eclipse ending just before 4:40 p.m.
The surge in tourism is widely expected to jam Vermont's roads and highways. Many people are drawing lessons from other popular one-time events such as the 2004 Phish show in Coventry. Concertgoers clogged I-91 so badly that the band advised its fans to turn around and go home.
Mark Bosma, public information officer for Vermont Emergency Management, doesn't expect anything like that to happen on April 8. He noted that the Phish show drew 70,000 people to one small town in the Northeast Kingdom.
"We're going to have people spread out between Middlebury to St. Johnsbury and all areas north," Bosma said. "There's a lot of mystery involved where people are going to go."
Many are expected at events in Burlington. The city is closing Route 127, also called the Beltline, and offering it up as paid parking spaces, with a shuttle to the waterfront.
Widespread school closures and early releases are complicating the workday. Danforth Pewter in Middlebury is closing its plant at 11 a.m. so workers can pick up their kids at 11:30, when Addison County schools close for the day. But it's business as usual at the company's stores, where heavy tourist traffic is expected, CEO Bram Kleppner said. In Danforth's store window on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace, pewter elves sport tiny eclipse glasses.
Numerous companies are asking staff to work from home that day. So is the State of Vermont, which employs 8,000 people, some of whom already do their jobs remotely. In a short memo to executive branch employees — those not working in the courts or the legislature — Administration Secretary Kristin Clouser encouraged working at home. She authorized managers to let in-person workers duck out to see the eclipse — as long as they keep the break short.
"They may also wish to allow employees to use discretionary leave to observe the eclipse for an extended period of time," Clouser added.
Court employees, too, will get in on the action. Courthouses in Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans, Caledonia, Essex and Washington counties will be closed all day on April 8. And every courthouse in the state will close during the period of totality, from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.
Rhino Foods of Burlington, which makes ice cream fillings such as chocolate chip cookie dough, will run its daily eight-hour cleaning shift as usual at the time of the eclipse. To mark the occasion, vice president Rooney Castle said, the company will offer employees orange drink SunnyD and moon pies — a marshmallow-filled snack that will be on the menu in several Vermont break rooms next week.
While many members of the Rhino Foods administrative staff are taking the day off, Castle said, he hadn't heard similar interest from the cleaning crew.
"There are varying degrees of excitement," said Castle, who plans to spend the eclipse with friends. "Some people have lots of plans; some people are just finding out about it or don't really care."
The eclipse could throw a wrench in the works for those who need to make a delivery in Vermont that day. The Department of Motor Vehicles is directing commercial drivers to consider alternative routes and dates. Normal weekend restrictions on overweight or oversize vehicles will stretch into Monday.
The holiday atmosphere extends to GlobalFoundries, where the company's 1,800 Essex Junction workers will be free to head outside, according to Gina DeRossi, who works in corporate communications for the chip maker.
"GF has purchased glasses for our teams in Vermont and are ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to view the eclipse," DeRossi said in an email.
But it will be business nearly as usual at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where some staff might have to miss the historic event. While the hospital is moving many appointments to telehealth, it's also preparing for extra demand as a result of the expected influx of visitors, according to Annie Mackin, a spokesperson for the health network.
"While we do hope that team members will be able to step out in a safe way, the bottom line is that we won't be leaving patients in need without supervision," Mackin said.