Tops Markets to Co-Host Solar Eclipse Viewing Party in Buffalo
In advance of the total solar eclipse scheduled to take place on Monday, April 8, Tops Markets LLC is inviting the community to join in, together with the Buffalo Bisons minor-league baseball team and NASA scientists, to mark the momentous occurrence.
The Bisons’ home, Sahlen Field, will be open for people from the region and visitors from around the world to experience the eclipse at no charge. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis online (with a $1 service charge), at the Sahlen Field box office or at select Tops Markets stores. While this is a ticketed event, seats are general admission, with the Bisons positioning all guests in the best seats possible to view the eclipse.
The event will feature entertainment, education from NASA scientists, and prizes from Tops. NASA will also give out a limited number of solar eclipse glasses to the first 2,000 guests. Glasses can also be purchased at most Tops locations for $1.99 with a BonusPlus Card.
Stadium gates will open at noon, and on-field demonstrations will start at 12:45 p.m., with livestreaming on the 80-foot Bisons centerfield scoreboard from the NASA Space station. To help celebrate, there will be Tops Monopoly Rip It, Win It, Reach for the Stars giveaways, Tops gift cards, and more.
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“We’re thrilled to not only be celebrating the total solar eclipse with western New York, but also the ongoing celebration of Tops Monopoly Rip, Win It, Reach for the Stars game going on now at all area Tops locations,” noted Kathy Sautter, Tops’ director corporate communications and public relations. “Guests who attend the event at Sahlen field will have a chance to win one of over 1,000 Tops Monopoly tickets that were literally launched into space! These tickets could contain our grand prize of $20,000 in free food and fuel from Tops, The Ultimate Trip to see the Northern Lights in Norway, a sky-gazing weekend to the Planetarium in New York City, plus millions of other prizes and great money-saving offers!”
“With Buffalo being in the direct path of totality, this will certainly go down as one of the most unique and memorable events we’ve ever been able to host at Sahlen Field,” said Bisons general manager Anthony Sprague. “We’re extremely fortunate and thankful that NASA has partnered with us to come to Buffalo, because there’s no one on this planet better suited to educate and guide us through this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Attending the event from NASA are Timothy P. McClanahan, NASA planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Rich Burns: NASA project manager, Space Science Mission Operations Project at Goddard Space Flight Center; Kelly Hyde: NASA project support manager, Space Science Mission Operations Project at Goddard Space Flight Center; and Angela Stickle, NASA-funded planetary scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
The following west New York Tops locations will have free tickets available at the service desk, during its normal operating hours, for the Bisons Total Solar Eclipse Event at Sahlen Field, while supplies last:
3980 Maple Road, Amherst
355 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca
3201 Southwestern Boulevard, Orchard Park
65 Grey Street, East Aurora
2140 Grand Island Boulevard, Grand Island
4777 Transit Road, Depew
9660 Transit Road, Amherst
2101 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
6150 South Park Avenue, Hamburg
5274 Main Street and Union Road, Williamsville
Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Markets LLC has approximately 150 supermarkets, including five franchise stores, and employs more than 14,000 associates in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The banner’s parent company, Northeast Grocery Inc. (NGI), is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. NGI has also been named among PG’s 2024 Top Regional Grocers.
