New Years Eve; The Times Square Ball
It happened every year in our house. My mom would make us cider, we would put on sparkly hats and wait until the exact moment that the shiny glowing ball hit the bottom of the platform before we were allowed to blow our plastic, streamer-clad horns and scream “Happy New Year”! To any kid allowed to stay up until midnight, blowing the ultimate annoying whistle and drinking enough cider to fill a small bathtub, this was one of the best nights we would have that year! But the biggest thrill was watching that shiny, sparkly, magnificently glowing ball drop all the way down that big pole, symbolizing a whole New Year. Little did we know how much history that ball had!
The Times Square Ball has been lowered or “dropped” nearly every year since December 31st, 1907 in Times Square, Manhattan. Although kept on a flagpole at Times Square year round it only starts it’s decent every December 31st at 11:59pm EST.
The Times Square Ball, originally constructed by The New York Times Chief Electrician, Walter F. Palmer was made out of iron and wood, lit with 100 25-watt lightbulbs and weighed 700lbs. This original ball was replaced in 1920, constructed of iron and weighed in at 400 lbs. The second ball was discontinued in 1942-1943 due to wartime lighting restrictions. The third ball, built in 1995 weighed in at 1,020 lbs and was clad with rhinestones and computerized lighting systems featuring strobe lighting. The fourth ball was created by Waterford Crystals in 2008 in dedication of the ball drop’s 100th anniversary and weighed in at 1,212 lbs. This ball was only used once and can be found at Macy’s in Herald’s Square. The fifth ball currently weighing in at 11,875 lbs resulted in a re-design of the original flagpole, making it stronger and wider.
Many venues hosting New Year’s Eve bashes try to incorporate some sort of “ball drop” to complete their New Year’s regimen. This year The Village Country Club will be hosting our own ball drop, balloon ball drop that is! There will be a champagne toast, lots of sparkly cocktails, a fantastic balloon-ball drop & we will of course be showing that shiny, sparkly, magnificently glowing ball drop in Times Square that has mesmerized American’s for decades. For more information about The Village Country Club’s Annual New Year’s Eve Party please visit our website at www.myvillageapts.com or click the link below.
http://www.myvillageapts.com/News.aspx?id=69
Information in the above article was obtained from Wikipedia online. To read the entire article please click this linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball
