As hundreds of thousands of people gathered in New York's Times Square to watch the ball drop and thousands gathered at Atlanta's Underground to watch the peach drop, a new occurrence was beginning in the town of Mesena, Ga.: a "watermelon drop."
The celebration took place at the home of Willie and Birda Reese, where guests and family enjoyed food, music, games and fellowship.
While awaiting the arrival of 2010, the crowd met around a huge bonfire, and at 11:59 p.m., the watermelon began slowly descending to the platform below.
As the seconds ticked away, guests chimed in for the final countdown, and the crowd went wild as the watermelon crashed onto the platform.
The inaugural Watermelon Drop, an idea conceived by Martel Reese, was attended by about 60 people and included visitors from as far away as Minnesota, Texas, Ohio and Jamaica.
