Mt. Olive Pickle Co. drops into 2017
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on January 2, 2017 8:23 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Hayleigh Boyce, 5, holds a noisemaker in her mouth as she poses for a photo with the glowing pickle at the annual Mount Olive Pickle Drop. She and her family drove from Four Oaks to attend the event.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Harmony Dees, 10, smiles as water is sprayed from the pickle vat Saturday night during the annual Mount Olive Pickle Drop.
MOUNT OLIVE -- Brad Vest has seen a possum drop in Brasstown, a Hershey's Kiss in Pennsylvania and a peach in Savannah, Ga.
On Saturday, he drove from the snowy mountains in Boone to Wayne County just to see the 18th annual New Year's Eve Pickle Drop at the Mt. Olive Pickle Co.
"Today's my birthday, and every year I go to see something drop, and so I'm here to see the pickle drop," he said. "I love this small town. What I really like now is that I have a son, and this is fun for him."
Vest, who traveled with his wife and 6-year-old son, seeks out a new experience each year and a different location to ring in the new year.
The Pickle Drop is his eighth stop in a string of New Year's Eve celebrations that have taken him to Gatlinburg, Key West and Walt Disney World.
"Every one's different," said Vest, who turned 48 on New Year's Eve. "I love the uniqueness of things."
The Pickle Drop seemed fitting this year and worth the trip, he said.
"It's a good atmosphere," he said. "You don't have to worry about people getting too rowdy. Mount Olive's a beautiful city. Plus, I love Mt. Olive pickles."
Vest joined thousands of people that packed the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. grounds, near the corner of Cucumber and Vine streets, where a lighted 3-foot-long plastic pickle hung at the top of a 45-foot-long company flagpole.
The event, which started at 6 p.m., included music, dancing, a chance to win door prizes, hot chocolate and plenty of Mt. Olive pickles. Adults wore brightly colored New Year hats, and children wore smaller party style hats and blew on noisemakers.
"She keeps asking me when's the pickle going to drop?" said Al Mansuetti, who drove from Goldsboro to Mount Olive with his girlfriend and 4-year-old daughter, Autumn.
"We've never been," he said. "She's never been. We came out to let her see the pickle drop. We thought it would be fun for her. It's good they do something for the young kids."
As people waited, several marquee timers counted down the final few minutes to 7 p.m.
The countdown is traditionally held at the stroke of 7 p.m. -- or midnight Greenwich Mean Time, GMT. Bill Bryan, Mt. Olive Pickle Co. board chairman, said the earlier time allows people a chance to call it a night or time to make it to other New Year's Eve celebrations.
Bryan counted down the final 16 seconds as the pickle descended down the flagpole. The descent was followed by the crowd singing "Auld Lang Syne" and "God Bless America" to the sound of bagpipes.
Then, the evening door prize drawing was held, with the grand prize winner taking away a 3-foot pool pickle like the one dropped from the flagpole.
Each year during the event, the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. collects canned food items and cash donations that go to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The collections were even more important this year, with an increased need from people still recovering from Hurricane Matthew.
Each person who donated food or cash was entered into the evening door prize drawing.
The annual Pickle Drop continues to be popular for area residents and continues to draw people from other areas.
"We had people from Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Australia," Bryan said. "We had a great crowd, and the weather was good. This is just a nice family event."
For the first time, Jamie Harrell, a 33-year resident of the Grantham community, decided to take her daughter to the Pickle Drop.
"This is my first time out here," she said. "The past couple years, I haven't done anything, but this year, we decided to come out and have some fun."
Harrell met up with friends and enjoyed a chance to take pictures of her daughter with the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. mascot.
"We like the pickle guy," she said. "I love the music. It's family oriented, and it's a good time."
The first Pickle Drop was held in 1999 and started by the late Johnny Walker, Mt. Olive Pickle Co. president emeritus.
Walker was inspired by a 1950s publicity stunt by Pickle Packers International in Chicago that invited past World War II bombardier -- who claimed they were so accurate they could drop a bomb in a pickle barrel -- to drop pickles from a skyscraper into barrels on the sidewalk.
During its first year, eight people attended. In 2001, the event opened to the public and has grown ever since with new additions and improvements each year.
The Pickle Drop this year marks the 90th anniversary of the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. In business since 1926 in its hometown of Mount Olive, Mt. Olive Pickle Co. manufactures the best-selling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in U.S. grocery stores. Mt. Olive pickles are sold in all 50 states.