As seen in Livingston County News
Geneseo, N.Y. — The overcast sky may have made it tough or impossible to see the eclipse last week, but the totality and the activities communities had for visitors made everything worth it, Livingston County Tourism, Inc.’s director says.
“While it would have been great to view on a clear day, the experience of totality alone was awe-inspiring and will not occur in our county again during any of our lifetimes. We are proud of the fact that we were able to provide visitors with not only a memorable few minutes of totality but also a long weekend full of seeing and experiencing some of the best that the county has to offer,” Director Kelly Burns said. “The fact that many organizations and businesses were able to put on a series of events and entertain visitors makes this a success.”
“It would be an honor to have those visitors come back to Livingston County for something else or to continue to explore the things we have to offer at a different time,” she said.
Of the towns and villages who put on events, most plan to continue their events moving forward.
“They found them to be great ways to bring their community together in a season that they normally wouldn’t throw a large scale event,” Burns said.
The director said Livingston County Tourism are currently surveying 20 event organizers to get more feedback on individual events.
Burns said the fact that the entire county was in the path of totality meant residents had a chance to view from their own homes.
“It was not a surprise to us that people stayed home as a lot of our messaging to locals was “if you live here, stay here,’ she said. “This messaging encouraged people to spread out around the county and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event within their own communities.”
Congestion on the roads was less than expected, likely due to the cloud cover in the region pushing a significant amount of eclipse viewers to the east, County Director of the Office of Emergency Management Andrew P. Brodell said.
“The law enforcement units in the county responded to traffic as it became congested in certain areas, alleviating it significantly,” he said. “We ended up with significantly less issues than anticipated, but we had planned for the worst.”
County Tourism started preparing for the eclipse in January 2023 with stakeholder meetings. About three months later, it had completed branding and design elements (LivCo Sol), built out a website (www.livcosol.com), and ordered 91,900 custom-branded eclipse glasses.
“In May, we brought in two representatives from Sweetwater, Tenn., who helped plan for the 2017 eclipse. They presented at two events for local stakeholders who were interested in learning more about what to expect,” Burns said. “As with any planning, it became much more involved as the event got closer. Absolutely it was time well-spent.”
County Tourism invested that time in visitors and county residents, which drives quality-of-life, she said.