A\u00a0 6-feet-tall, 200-pound metal top hat strewn with white lights will descend from a fire ladder in Hatboro at 6 p.m. tonight as part of a family-friendly fete, according to borough manager Diane Hegele.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw the PEEP drop and the Hershey\u2019s kiss drop and thought it would be neat to do a hat drop,\u201d Hegele said. \u201cOur fire marshal happened to be out doing an inspection at Royson Engineering and happened to see they had a laser printer and asked if they\u2019d be interested in making a hat. And they did. They did a phenomenal job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen to the audio version:\u00a0<\/p>\n
https:\/\/penncapital-star.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/23ep4webNYEDROPS.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some highlights of the dozens of similar celebrations in the commonwealth\u2019s cities, boroughs and townships:<\/p>\n In Perry County, Duncannon will revive its sled drop today after skipping last year. Wilkes-Barre Township, Luzerne County, will bring back its blueberry after three years \u2013 a locally crafted five-feet-diameter glowing aluminum orb draped in blue, according to its fire department. And after a near-miss, a wrench will again descend in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County \u2013 thanks to volunteers stepping in to help as the longtime organizer recovers from surgery, as PennLive reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other changes to the lineup include Red Lion in York County and Chambersburg<\/a> in Franklin County foregoing their traditions for 2025.<\/p>\n Hatsboro\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve celebration will include an inaugural hat drop. (Photo courtesy of Robert Jacobus, administrative assistant, events, Borough of Hatsboro)<\/p>\n Red Lion\u2019s Municipal Utility Authority employees had volunteered in past years to scramble up to the roof to raise a cigar in honor of the industry\u2019s legacy in the borough; however, liability concerns arose with fewer people available for that this year, according to board member Nevin Horne. <\/p>\n Developer Jordan Ilyes hopes to integrate the totem into a celebration at one of his properties. His Franklin Street Social, Horne noted, offers a quieter section of the borough that would be safer for spectators and less disruptive to traffic than the intersection of Route 24 and Main Street for past cigar-raising ceremonies.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also unclear whether the Martin\u2019s potato chip drop bag could be restarted in Chambersburg in the future. However, chips will fall more than 100 miles away in Lewistown<\/a>, Mifflin County, in honor of the Hartley\u2019s variety produced locally after skipping several years.<\/p>\n Pottsville will raise a giant replica of a bottle of Yuengling lager<\/a>, the well-known brewery has confirmed. <\/p>\n In Allentown, a 20-feet-wide hockey puck drops at the PPL Center<\/a> \u2013 home of event sponsor the Lehigh Valley Phantoms American Hockey League team.\u00a0<\/p>\n A mammoth PEEPS chick descends as part of an entire festival<\/a> based around the sugar-dusted Easter confection produced in Bethlehem. And a 300-pound aluminum kiss is dropped in Hershey <\/a>\u2014 home to the world famous chocolate-maker the Hershey Company.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a pickle in Dillsburg<\/a> York County, a huckleberry in New Bloomfield<\/a>, Perry County, and bologna in Lebanon<\/a> \u2013 a 28-year tradition that\u2019s previously sparked requests from animal rights advocates to celebrate with a vegan version<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shippensburg has dropped an anchor<\/a> for nearly as long \u2013 even though the borough (which extends into both Cumberland and Franklin counties) derives its name from a founding resident and not from any strong maritime ties.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several communities will continue their long-standing traditions of dropping locally significant emblems.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Northumberland County, Shamokin has \u2013 for at least a decade, according to city manager Robert Slaby \u2013 been lowering a giant, glittering piece of coal for the industry that looms so large in the region\u2019s history and its identity, even if it may be well past its heyday. Sunbury drops an oversized version of a lightbulb<\/a> \u2013 a reference to the city\u2019s streets being the first illuminated<\/a> by overhead conductors.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Haines shoe house replica dropped in Hellam Township pays homage to the York County municipality\u2019s singular promotional structure turned Airbnb rental<\/a>.<\/p>\n The cities of York and Lancaster have been celebrating with white and red roses, respectively, for years \u2013 in honor of their nicknames.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the 13th annual<\/a> mushroom drop in Kennett Square<\/a>, the Chester County community known as the \u201cmushroom capital of the world.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Harrisburg\u2019s strawberry drop dates back to 1991<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Hatsboro\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3300130f1e72d3431dbf63f91e6c7a64.jpeg\"\/)
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