Homestead National Monument of America’s event to celebrate the “Great American Eclipse,” held August 19 – 21, 2017, was a resounding success on many levels, with approximately 30,000 people visiting the park. Over $75,470 in sales for the weekend helped Eastern National eclipse both the sales budget for fiscal year 2017 and the sales records of the same month in previous years. Thanks to the sales boost from this event, this EN site has had a whopping 198 percent increase for the year and a 756 percent increase for August compared to last year!
In addition to the existing Eastern National stores in the park’s Education Center and Heritage Center, EN staff operated an outdoor sales tent. Southern Regional Manager Helena Adcock and Acting Midwest Assistant Regional Manager Emily Rapp were on hand to assist Site Manager Rose Fetty with top sellers including EN custom-made and eclipse-themed items such as T-shirts, posters, postcards, pottery mugs, blankets, pins, ornaments, and hiking medallions. EN’s newly published park handbook, Homestead National Monument of America: In Search of the American Dream, also debuted as a sales item. Additional support to the event was provided through an Eastern National Competitive Grant of $10,000.
Also in honor of the solar eclipse, special-edition “Time-of-Totality” Passport To Your National Parks® cancellation stamps were available at National Park Service sites located within the shadow of totality. These stamps were offered at the following NPS sites in order of totality: John Day Fossil Beds NM, Craters of the Moon NM & PRES, Grand Teton NP, Fort Laramie NHS, Agate Fossil Beds NM, Scotts Bluff NM, Homestead NM of America, Harry S Truman NHS, Ulysses S. Grant NHS, Fort Donelson NB, Stones River NB, Obed WSR, Manhattan Project NHP, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Blue Ridge Parkway, Ninety Six NHS, Congaree NP, Charles Pinckney NHS, and Fort Sumter NM.
Photo: Eastern National Site Manager Rose Fetty (in white shirt) assists customers at the EN store in Homestead National Monument of America’s Heritage Center during the total solar eclipse event.
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