100-year-old Vermont woman recalls excitement of 1932 eclipse [Video]

Having Vermont located within the path of totality for the Great Eclipse on April 8 has often been described as a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. However, it will be a twice-in-a-lifetime experience for a woman who grew up in the Northeast Kingdom and who remembers the 1932 eclipse.”It was a party,” beamed 100-year-old Marguerite Smyrski, who was 8 years old on Aug. 31, 1932. “We went right in back of the house on the hill, and that’s where we watched from.”Smyrski’s family home in Derby sat right in the path of totality for that year’s hotly-anticipated total solar eclipse. Relatives came from nearby Rock Island, just over the Canadian border, so they could all watch the eclipse together. Smyrski remembered a busy day of food preparation ahead of the get-together, so the family could have a picnic on the hill during the eclipse.”I remember it getting dark,” Smyrski recalled in an interview …