It was a cold winter night for the New Year’s Eve Tangerine Drop. It is not often that it gets into the 40s in Brooksville, so we are not used to being outside in those temperatures. A cadre of brave souls braved the cold and had a good time.
The band that played from 9 to midnight were the veteran musicians Bill Creel and Joe Solomon. Bill and Joe run the popular open mic night at the Bistro in Brooksville. They enjoy working with other musicians and Enrichment Center Director Dell Barnes displayed his saxophone skill with solo sets, as well as playing sets together with Bill and Joe. Bill and Joe are not just musicians — they are also Brooksville’s number one comedy duo.
Farmer and the Dell Rustic events provided benches, tables and chairs, and games. Games on the field were; cornhole, chess with 2 foot chess pieces, checkers with one foot pieces, a giant Jenga game played on top of a large wooden wire spool, and Yahtzee (cleverly called Yardzee) and played with giant dice.
The Hernando Sun offered handmade t-shirts, tangerine juice, and provided the giant tangerine balloon. The Hernando Sun also gave a preview of their New Year’s predictions that are in this week’s newspaper. The mild winter prediction drew laughs as we were all freezing.
At midnight, the eight foot helium balloon was lowered while the band played Auld Lang Syne. Upon reaching the ground in the first moments of 2020, the balloon was popped in concert to the surrounding fireworks in the area. The event ended soon afterward and everyone headed home to warm up for the new year. Literally.
The event was enjoyed by all who attended, as evidenced by lots of planning taking place for next year’s tangerine drop. When the attendees are offering advice for next year, we certainly hope it means that they enjoyed the event, and will see the Tangerine Drop in 2021.
Video of the midnight event can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/hernandosun352/videos/860244577739225/
