Madras dad, son finally get to watch eclipse together

The total solar eclipse is just 11 days away, and some people plan on “getting out of Dodge,” so to speak.

But a father and son in Madras are doing just the opposite.

Madras City Councilor Bartt Brick and his 92-year-old father, Eugene, are preparing to finally watch an eclipse together.

The two men put two qualities above all others, curiosity and kindness. That’s what’s led them to spend months together outside, staring up into the sky.

In 1945, Eugene Brick was 20 years old, aboard the USS Drexler when it was sunk in a kamikaze attack off the coast of Okinawa.

“He was the one that said that ‘everybody get ready because this ship is sinking,'” Eugene Brick said. “So I come from this way, I slid down the side of the ship and into the water and oil.”

From this experience came a new perspective, explained his son, Bartt Brick.

“I think dad took away from that two lessons he passed on to me and my brother: Be kind to people, because you never know what’s going to happen. And be curious about everything,” he said.

Which is why the 92-year-old spent the past year preparing to watch the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse with his son.

Bartt said, “Don’t let anybody say you can’t or you don’t, you can’t understand this — well, of course you can, you just have to do some work.”

And the two have done a lot of work. They gave new life to a telescope they built together 53 years ago using a mirror made by Eugene’s father.

“We set upon ourselves a project to make this telescope to honor grandpa,” said Bartt.

“Neither one of us knew anything about telescopes,” he added.

But the duo also bought a brand-new, high-tech telescope after spending months researching the right one.

Eugene said it’s like going from a Model T Ford to a Cadillac.

And that Cadillac of a telescope isn’t the only thing keeping Eugene Brick going.

“Dad right now is into particle physics,” his son said. “He’s trying to read about entanglement and dark matter. And that right there’s a lesson for the grandkids: Keep interested in everything.”

So on Aug. 21, Eugene and Bartt, along with at least 20 friends and family, will spend the morning watching the eclipse from the family’s backyard.