New Year's Eve ball to drop in Rathdrum
The portable stage is rolled in for the Rathdrum New Year's Eve Celebration in 2019, featuring ball drop from the top of a Northwest Building Components crane. This New Year's Eve the ball drop will take place at 9 p.m. on Main Street in Rathdrum.
Photo courtesy of Eric Singer
Rathdrum Mayor Vic Holmes and city staff will host a New York City-style ball drop celebration at 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve in front of the City Hall on Main Street.
“It’s a fun, safe way for families to come celebrate New Year’s,” said Eric Singer, director of the Rathdrum parks and recreation department.
City employees will assemble a stage, where Holmes will be master of ceremonies for the event. Starting at 8 p.m. the Parks and Recreation Department will provide free noise-makers, hats, glasses, necklaces, and at 9 p.m. there will be an apple cider toast.
For the ball drop, the mayor will lead attendees in a countdown, and a crane operator from Northwest Building Components will lower a giant steel ball decorated with lights from a crane boom.
Eagle Manufacturing made the ball in the first Rathdrum New Year’s celebration in 2017, Singer said.
“When we did it the first year, we weren’t sure if it was something that was going to catch on,” Singer said. “We kind of shortened New Year’s Eve up.”
Singer expects over 100 people to show up this year, and up to 150 if the weather permits. Some years, extra-chilly weather has resulted in smaller crowds, and the event had to be canceled in 2020, but Singer expects a great turnout this year.
The New Year’s Eve celebration ends early enough to allow parents to make plans for midnight celebrations.
“We really wanted people to have a safe and friendly space to celebrate,” Singer said.
Before the ball drop, the mayor and city staff will give out raffle prizes of toys, games and T-shirts, and people can gather by fire pits set up along Main Street.
The block will be closed from Mill to Fourth streets to accommodate the crane and stage. It should be reopened after 9 p.m.
“We’ve thought about in the future maybe moving it to a park, like Majestic Park, so we could maybe have fireworks,” Singer said.
An improvement goal is to commission an updated ball for the drop, incorporating some upgrades to the design, and the long-term plans may prompt expansion if the city sees a strong demand for it.
“It’s pretty laid back and pretty chill,” Singer said. “It’s for families and it’s family-friendly.”