Words of Wisdom from SharLeigh

A New Year - An Old Tradition

When I was a little girl, each New Year’s Eve my parents would drop my sister and me off to spend the night with our Grandparent’s and then go out to a party. My Grandmother would give us a glass of Ginger Ale and put a cherry in it so we felt like we were at a party. Then she would turn on the television and we would watch Guy Lombardi and his Royal Canadians play “the sweetest music this side of heaven.” His New Year’s Eve program ran from 1929 through 1976. Our biggest treat was to try and stay up till midnight so we could watch the ball drop in Times Square. That famous ball has been dropping at 11:59 pm to signify the New Year since 1907. The original ball was constructed of iron and wood. It was five feet in diameter, had 100 25-watt light bulbs and weighed 700 pounds. In 1920, an iron ball was introduced. Due to the dimming of lights in New York City during WW-II, no ball was dropped in 1942 or 1943. A lighter ball (150 pounds) made of aluminum replaced the iron ball in 1955. That ball was used until the 1980’s. A marketing campaign from 1981 through 1988 “I Love New York” changed the ball into an apple with red bulbs and a green stem. After that, it returned to white bulbs and was revamped with an aluminum skin, rhinestones and strobe lights. For the Millennium Celebration of 2000, a new ball, designed by Waterford Crystal, was installed (see photo). The new ball is six feet in diameter, is covered with 504 Waterford crystal triangles and weighs in at 1,070 pounds. The outside surface is lit by 168 halogen bulbs and the inside by 432 bulbs of various colors, which are intensified by 96 strobe lights. To add more sparkle, the outside has 90 rotating mirrors that reflect the light into the audience. Throughout the years, people have observed this spectacular display of an intensely lit dazzling ball being slowly lowered and the count down of 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 – heralding the dawn of another New Year and the continuance of an American Tradition. Happy New Year to one and all!