With two minutes and 40 seconds of totality, Hopkinsville, Ky. is center stage for next week’s solar eclipse, and there is no better way to celebrate two large spheres than with a single small one.
From outer-space moonshine to scuba diving downtown, the city has found some pretty quirky ways to celebrate, but Solar Eclipse Marketing and Events Consultant Brooke Jung thinks the solar eclipse bowling ball may be the most unique.
“That’s something I don’t know that any other community can say they have,” she said.
The solar eclipse bowling balls are courtesy of Ebonite International, the largest bowling ball manufacturer in the world. The company has been in Hopkinsville for fifty years, and Vice President of Marketing Jim Cormier said the company wanted to help the city publicize the eclipse.
“We manufactured about two dozen of the eclipse bowling balls, and we’re using them promotionally through social media and in helping the town to spread the word about the eclipse,” he said.
But if you’re one of the many people calling Cormier asking to buy an eclipse bowling ball, you’re out of luck. He said they are not for sale.
“My phone is ringing off the hook,” he said. “They see some promotional pieces out there and they’re offering quite a bit of money for them, but for our purposes, we’re just using it as a promotional piece.”
