Michael Pramik

Chas Fagan’s bronze statue of 15-year-old Neil Armstrong — ready for the eclipse (photo courtesy of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum).

On April 8, the moon’s orbit will place it directly between Earth and the sun, casting nightlike darkness on a path starting in the South Pacific at about 11:42 a.m. Eastern time and ending about five hours later somewhere over the North Atlantic.

For the first time since Ohio’s infancy, the Buckeye State is in the path of a total eclipse of the sun, and Wapakoneta is almost directly in the center of that path. Viewers there will see the beginning of the eclipse shortly before 2 p.m., experience totality for nearly four minutes a little after 3 p.m. (with the maximum at 3:11 p.m.), and then watch it as partial again until about 4:25 p.m. 

Mimi's Donuts

In the kitchen of Jupiter Coffee and Donuts in Fairfield, Ohio, co-owner Cindy Wallis proudly shows off a feathery circle of sweetness — warm, luscious, and oozing with classic glazed-donut flavor. 

“Donuts sell here. They just sell,” says Terri Niederman, owner of the Donut Spot, also in Fairfield. “It’s unbelievable.”

Nine shops, in cooperation with the Butler County Convention and Visitors Bureau, launched the trail in 2016 to boost sales and draw visitors. Participants secure a Donut Trail Passport and have it stamped at each location. A completed passport earns the bearer a souvenir T-shirt.