Sometimes I think of ordinary things or events in a different light, and it makes me question why some things are the way they are.  As New Year’s Eve fast approaches, no doubt an iconic scene etched in the minds of almost everyone in the free world is that of the ball falling in Times Square, with millions upon millions of people watching either there on the street, on TV’s around the globe, or via the internet.  For days ahead of the 31st, preparations are underway to shine the ball, hang the ball, and test the lights.  This insures that the 2018 “Gift of Serenity” themed, 12,000 lb crystal ball, including 288 new panels to appear as intertwining butterflies, all function properly as they are hoisted 470 feet above the crowd.

Many other things fall at the stroke of midnight on December 31, and some at 7pm for the little ones to enjoy.  These things range from the strange to the ordinary, from animals to plants, and many objects including tools, food, and household items…….all dropped to signify the end of a year and the start of the next one.

Food items that are dropped before the stroke of midnight on December 31 include various fruits such as a glowing pineapple, a cherry, a blueberry, and a strawberry.  In Ohio a giant popcorn ball is dropped, but elsewhere one can see a sausage, a giant donut, and an ice cream cake.  Mount Olive, NC, drops a large pickle.  A bologna, a french fry, a bag of potato chips and a lollipop are dropped in Pennsylvania.  In New Mexico you can see a chrome chili pepper, and in Wisconsin, an 80 lb. decorated cheese wedge is lowered from a 100 ft. ladder truck in honor of the dairy industry.

Animals are a touchy subject with PETA, though many who are “dropped” are simply lowered and released, or are not alive to begin with.  Some creatures who are lowered include a buzzard, a hog, a stuffed goat, muskrat and beaver, a bear (I don’t know if it is stuffed or not),  Chuck the Chicken, a possum (he’s alive) and a wooden flea (cheer’s to you again, NC!)

Other notable items that are lowered at the stroke of midnight around the country include a sled, a large red heart (of the Valentine type), a hemlock tree, a beach ball entwined with Christmas lights, a wrench, an Indy car, an anchor, a cigar and a button.  All of these items hold some sort of cultural connection to the place where they are honored.

One of the most unusual drops occurs in 801 Saloon, located in Key West, Florida, where a large, ruby red slipper in which a drag queen sits is lowered to start the New Year.

Perhaps if one stands too close to the Acorn in Raleigh, NC, you can quickly travel to Myerstown, Pennsylvania where a Bayer aspirin is dropped.

It brings to mind……if, at any time of the year you say “someone dropped the ball”, unless you are at a baseball game, you refer to a failing in responsibilities or duties, or making a mistake.  Maybe that’s why the “ball is dropped” BEFORE the start of the New Year.  That way, all mistakes are in the past, and a clean fresh start is on the horizon.

Back to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where a Yuengling beer is not dropped, but raised.  Perhaps they do this so they can toast in the New Year?