Pickle will drop to ring in 2015
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 28, 2014 1:50 AM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Wayne County residents Wednesday night can celebrate the New Year early and still be home hours before the ball drops in New York or the giant acorn falls in Raleigh.
The 16th annual Pickle Drop, sponsored by the Mt. Olive Pickle Co., which gets under way at 6 p.m., will be over shortly after 7 p.m.
The gates to the pickle company grounds will open at 6 p.m. The Harmony Boys will provide the music as a video screen displays the countdown to 7 p.m. (midnight Greenwich Mean Time).
The pickle begins its descent down the 45-foot flagpole at the stroke of 7 p.m. and into the vintage wooden pickle vat at the corner of Cucumber and Vine streets.
People are reminded not to stand too close to the vat, or they might get splashed with water as the pickle hits the tank. Actually, the splash is a bucket of water thrown over the rim of the vat by a company employee.
After the drop, a U.S. flag is raised and the pickle is on display in front of the tank for people to pose for photos.
The first Pickle Drop in 1999 was held in the plant's tank yard and was attended by eight people -- company employees and their families.
The Pickle Drop was the idea of the late Johnny Walker, who worked for the company for more than 50 years, most spent as company president.
Walker was known for his humor, quick wit and love of pickle puns.
He came up with the idea after remembering a story from World War II that American bombardiers boasted they were so accurate that they could drop a bomb in a pickle barrel.
Pickle Packers International decided to test that theory in the 1950s and World War II bombardiers tested their skills by dropping pickles from the 20th story of Chicago's Sheraton Hotel.
The most accurate reportedly got pickles for life.
The event was featured in the November 1955 issue of Life magazine.
Wednesday's Pickle Drop will include free refreshments including hot chocolate, cookies and pickles.
The company's gift shop will be open until 7 p.m. for people in search of souvenirs of the evening.
There are normally plenty of party hats and noisemakers, and after the drop spectators sing "Auld Lang Syne."
During the event, canned foods will be collected for donation to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Financial contributions are also welcome.
People making a donation will have a chance to win door prizes.
The grand prize is a pickle similar to the one that is dropped into the vat.
Thousands attend the event, but people who cannot make it can watch it live on the Internet.
If you can't make the event, visit mtolivepickles.com or ustream.tv/ channel/new-years-eve-pickle-drop to see the live stream of the dill-lightful event.