Hundreds of thousands of visitors will be making their way to Erie this weekend for the Solar Eclipse and some have already arrived, including members of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association.

After years of planning, the Pennsylvania Optometric Association is finally enjoying their annual Congress in Erie. Dr. James Deom, the President of Pennsylvania Optometric Association said, "We plan our meetings well in advance, we have hundreds of attendees coming from all over the state, we want them to be prepared. But when we first planned this meeting was in 2017 during the last solar eclipse."


Around 200 optometrists will spend the weekend learning and networking before ending the event with the eclipse.

Dr. Jessica Young, the President-Elect for the Pennsylvania Optometric Association said, "It's really exciting. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to have our conference during the eclipse. Of course, we are first and foremost focused on patient safety and all of us wearing our eye glasses and making sure we are not staring at that sun."


Eye care is something optometrist have been promoting with their patients ahead of Monday's event.


Dr. Mark Margolies, a fellow Optometrist attended the Congress said, "We are always concerned about safety, so we have been telling our patients to make sure they have the proper solar eclipse glasses to view the eclipse, safety comes first.


While many members decided to make their way up to Erie for the annual Congress, some brought their families along, making it a family trip to view the solar eclipse. Dr. Deom brought his young family along for the trip to enjoy the community ahead of Monday. "Just enjoying the beauty of the outdoors here in Erie, Pennsylvania, the town, the community. The businesses have embraced us completely and we just couldn't be in a better place to celebrate the eclipse", said Dr. Deom.

Besides viewing the eclipse, Dr. Young is looking forward to seeing how others react to it, "I think just seeing everyone's reactions and how that will go down will be fascinating."


The Pennsylvania Optometric Association tends to host their conferences in the eastern or center parts of the state, so when they announced it would be in Erie, the same time as the eclipse, they saw a jump in attendees interested in coming.