WHITEHALL — The White Lake Snow Farmers were blown away by the turnout at their first ever Irish New Year's celebration Dec. 31 at Hanson Hill - especially considering the whole event came together in less than a month.
John Hanson of the Snow Farmers emceed the event, which featured a ball drop at 6 p.m., coinciding with midnight in much of Europe.
"We figured we'd have a dozen of our friends there," Hanson said. "I had some flyers up around town, and we talked to everyone we talk to about it. It was mainly word of mouth and sharing on Facebook. We were hoping for 30, and we had leftover can koozies from Float-a-Palooza...and they were gone in no time. We were just flabbergasted. We had to have had close to 100. We'll do this again next year."
The Snow Farmers have batted around a New Year's celebration idea for a few years, Hanson said, but didn't believe there would be a big turnout if the event took place at midnight. Also, "We're all old," Hanson chuckled, and didn't really want to be out that late.
However, Hanson said the idea of an Irish New Year's event was raised by another member of the group, who had attended a similar celebration in Chicago which also took place at 6 p.m. New Year's Eve. (Chicago's 6 p.m. is the same time as midnight in Ireland.)
After encouragement from Hanson Hill Waterfront Grill owner Patrick Nulty, who invoked his own Irish heritage in supporting it, the Snow Farmers moved forward with the idea in December. (Attempts to reach Nulty for comment were unsuccessful at press time.)
"Then it was, 'Come up with a ball and come up with someone to be able to lower it,'" Hanson said.
Hanson and the Snow Farmers teamed with WinBerg Construction, also a sponsor of the organization's Float-a-Palooza, to use one of its lifts to lower the ball. After searching through a couple of hardware stores to find a ball and finding only ones that required power cords to be plugged in, the Snow Farmers simply made one so that the lights - green, of course - would stay on via batteries.
The event featured free hot chocolate from the Hanson Hill restaurant as well as a light-up sled show; the Snow Farmers pitched attendees to festively decorate or create sleds for the occasion, with a handful of entrants involved.
Hanson said the Snow Farmers were energized by the high turnout, even amid very cold temperatures and wind that made it feel even colder. The celebration is intended to become an annual tradition.
Next on the Snow Farmers' calendar is the annual White Lake Wanderland, set for Feb. 6-8. The event will include the traditional cardboard sled race at Hanson Hill, along with several other games, including a broom-ball competition, reindeer games and a drop-in winter craft event. More details on the Wanderland will be available soon.
