Deon Dedmon, left, looks through a pair of eclipse glasses at the Corner Cafe on Saturday morning that were given away by local businessman Amir Crnalic, middle right.
A number of people arrived before sunrise at the Corner Cafe, Saturday morning, to receive a pair of free eclipse glasses courtesy of local businessman Amir Crnalic.
The 44-year-old owner of Top Floors, said he had ordered several hundred pair from various vendors across the country and had double-checked that the protective eyewear was certified to be authentic and would truly protect the eyesight of those using them to view the lunar eclipse on Monday afternoon.
“I’ve got three kids,” said Crnalic. “I want to make sure that anything I provide will protect them as well.”
Deon Dedmon along with two of her friends were sipping coffee outside the Corner Cafe awaiting Crnalic’s arrival.
“Every place I asked about the glasses said they were sold out,” Dedmon said. “I saw this and I live close and I’m always up early.”
Her friend, Missy, said that she tried to get the specialty glasses recently at the East Ridge Library but she said the shipment never arrived. Missy said she wanted a pair for her adult son who would be driving to work on Monday during the eclipse and wanted his eyes protected.
“I know my kid,” she said. “He’s going to look at the sun.”
When Melissa Davenport opened the restaurant at 7:30 a.m., Crnalic moved inside to the counter and began providing a pair of eclipse glasses to everyone who entered the door.
Among the first to get glasses were Mayor Brent Lambert and his family. His wife, Mandy, said that her children’s school was to have provided the eclipse glasses to all the students, but those glasses were recalled by the giant online retailer Amazon.com.
Mayor Lambert quickly read the instructions on his glasses which states not to touch the dark film that filters out the harmful rays. He said that awareness of the harmful effects of looking at an eclipsing sun has come a long way since he was a child.
“I remember I was in grade school during the last one,” Lambert said. “It was at Spring Creek School and they just closed the blinds. We could tell it was getting darker and darker.”
Lambert said that he would be in tiny Delano, Tennessee which is in the total black-out zone, on a train ride for his employer, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, during the eclipse.
Some people who came through the Corner Cafe doors were completely unaware of the eclipse glasses giveaway. They had puzzled looks on their faces as Crnalic handed them a pair of glasses that according to media reports are going for $10 a pair if you can find them.
One man asked Crnalic why he was doing this?
“Because you need them,” was the Bosnian immigrant’s simple reply.
Dedmon grabbed her breakfast to-go. As she left the Corner Cafe she said, “Whoo, whoo, my day is complete – biscuits and eclipse glasses.”
