Beyond the Ball Drop: 12 Weird Things Lowered at New Year's Countdowns

Famous for its multimillion-dollar melon crops, Vincennes, Indiana, raises an 18-foot, 500-pound watermelon made of steel and foam 100 feet in the sky. At midnight, the massive faux watermelon drops locally grown Knox County watermelons—12 this year to mark the end of 2012—that splatter when they hit the ground.

A six-foot queen conch shell, synchronized with the bar's countdown clock and neon lights, drops from the roof of Sloppy Joe's in Key West, Florida.

Known as the City of Oaks, Raleigh, North Carolina, lowers a 1,250-pound steel-and-copper acorn twice each year on New Year’s Eve: once at 7 p.m. with fireworks for families, and again at midnight.

Paying homage to the local industry, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, lowers a 12-foot-long, 150-pound stick of bologna to ring in the New Year. The salty sandwich staple is then donated to local charities.

Known as the cheese capital of the world, Plymouth, Wisconsin, drops an 80-pound Styrofoam cheese wedge from a 100-foot truck ladder at the stroke of midnight.

Home to the headquarters of the famous Easter marshmallow candy manufacturer, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, drops an 85-pound glowing fabrication of a Peep chick.

Mobile, Alabama, partners with Chattanooga Bakery Inc. to drop a 600-pound electronic version of the brand's MoonPie, a treat synonymous to the city's Carnival season, from a 34-story skyscraper.

Atlanta’s annual Peach Drop features the fall of an 800-pound fiberglass-and-foam peach.

An illuminated, 3-foot-long pickle makes a 45-foot plunge down a flagpole at the Mt. Olive Pickle Company in Mount Olive, North Carolina, before falling into a giant pickle tank.

Lewistown, Pennsylvania, honors local potato chip manufacturer Hartley's by lowering a giant bag of the snack food from a 100-foot-high firefighting ladder.

Paying tribute to its crab-fishing industry, Easton, Maryland, rings in the New Year with a giant replica of a red crab descending from the sky.

To honor the city’s famous fish, Port Clinton, Ohio, releases a 20-foot, 600-pound fiberglass walleye named Wylie from the sky.