While many of us will be celebrating New Years by watching the ball drop in Times Square, communities across the U.S. are dropping other objects such as live possums, a giant sardine, and a huge pine cone. (Random, odd… but really just to us!) Here are a few of the more unusual items that will be dropped during the countdown to midnight on New Years Eve:
1. Guitar drop in Memphis, TN
Get ready to rock on Dec. 31 when Hard Rock Cafe Memphis rings in the new year with its 10th annual New Year’s Eve Guitar Drop. A 10-foot D’Angelico guitar will drop at midnight.
2. PEEPS Chick Drop in Bethlehem, PA
A 400 pound PEEPS Chick will be dropped in Bethlehem, Pa., to ring in the New Year. The massive PEEPS show is part of the annual PEEPSFEST, hosted by the maker of PEEPS, Just Born Quality Confections.
No, this isn’t a joke. For years, Clay’s Corner, a North Carolina convenience store, has lowered a live-possum to ring in the New Year. While the convenience store has since retired and closed up shop, the possum drop is still planned to ring in 2017. If it sounds controversial, that’s because it is. In the past, Clay’s Corner faced a frenzy questioning its morality and legality of using a live animal.
The iconic-Peach drop will happen at the 120-year-old Flatiron Building in downtown Atlanta this year. Since 1989, an 800-lb. peach has been lowered to bring in each New Year.
5. Potato Drop in Boise, ID
Idaho is proud to be known for potatoes! Each year, a massive potato is lowered at the Idaho State Capitol.
6. An Oversized Flea in Eastover, NC
Why the town would create a 3-foot-tall, 30- pound ceramic flea is a real head scratcher… unless you know that the town was once known as Flea Hill.
7. A Wrench in Mechanicsburg, PA
Get it? Michanicsburg!?
8. A MoonPie in Mobile, AL
Why a MoonPie? According to PR Newswire, the tasty snack cake is the “favored throw” at the Mardi Gras parade, which originated in Mobile. Sadly, the 600-pound Moon Pie is electronic, not edible.
9. 200 Pounds of Bologna in Lebanon, PA
If you’re a cured meat connoisseur, you know that Lebanon bologna is kind of a big deal.
10. An Orange Wearing Sunglasses in Miami, FL
What goes up, stays up… at least when it comes to these objects, which are raised instead of dropped. “Big Orange” is a 35-foot neon orange that climbs 500 feet up the side of the InterContinental Hotel in Miami.