A New New Year’s Eve Tradition

Start a new New Year’s tradition this year with a stay at one of our bed and breakfasts and a viewing at one of central PA’s many unique object drops. Unlike most states—or all of them—Pennsylvania’s capital area including Carlisle, York, Lebanon, Lancaster, and Hershey all drop almost dozens of different objects. Maybe it’s the pride we take in being where we are from, or living where we’re at, coupled with some friendly neighborhood competition between towns. 

In Mechanicsburg, a wrench is dropped; in York, a white rose, while its neighbor across the Susquehanna, Lancaster, drops a red rose; Hershey, of course, raises and drops a Hershey Kiss in one of the country’s most famous and watched New Year’s Eve specials; Dillsburg, PA drops a pickle; Duncannon, a sled; Shippensburg, home of the university’s Raiders, drops an anchor; Carlisle, known for its textile industrialization, drops a button; and Harrisburg, the capital city, famous for Strawberry Square, drops a strawberry from the Hilton Hotel.

The variety of New Year’s Eve options in central PA means you don’t have to go far, or even leave your hometown, and brings with it a sense of that hometown pride and community you can find in small town America. For central PA’s capital area, what it means is that every small town was and is important to the heart of our state, and each one represents a unique industry that put the diversity of Pennsylvania on the forefront of a global stage. It’s consistent with the vision of our founding father, William Penn, who foresaw an intensely diverse population working together in a land of extremely abundant resources. Mechanics from Mechanicsburg, clothing from Carlisle, and chocolate from Hershey are just a few of the many things that make us all Pennsylvania proud.

There may not be enough years in someone’s lifetime to see every single object Pennsylvanians come up with, but it’s never too late to start. Start with Harrisburg’s strawberry, or pick one from random each year; book a New Year’s stay at one of our many bed and breakfast inns and start a new New Year’s Eve tradition. View a list of our unique New Year’s Eve drops.