Salemburg held its fourth annual “Heart Drop” on New Years Eve, ringing in the new year with a hometown twist.
While the phrase Heart Drop sounds scary to the ear at first, it is actually the town of Salemburg’s special twist on a New Year’s tradition: The Times Square Ball Drop. Via a fire truck crane, a heart that looks similar to a pinata is hoisted high above the crowd and among the lofty pines surrounding the town hall. The tradition was started by Mayor Joe Warren when he first took the helm of the Sampson town.
“Ever since I have been mayor, I had been trying to figure out what I wanted to drop and what I wanted to do for New Year’s,” recalled Warren at Wednesday night’s event, which brought out dozens. “I thought about a watermelon because of our big agriculture around here, and I thought about everything else until somebody came and said ‘Well, why don’t y’all drop a heart?’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s what we’ll do!’”
According to the mayor, the suggestion of dropping a heart came as a result of the town’s famous motto, “Small town, big heart.” That heart has often become synonymous with the town, acting almost as an unofficial mascot, so Warren said it made sense to include in the New Year’s Eve festivities.
Wednesday’s fourth annual event featured many activities, including a DJ, a game trailer, concessions and a heated tent to keep the large crowd warm and occupied until the main event at 7 p.m.. The event’s nontraditional start time was chosen by Warren as a way to let families come together prior to the New York Ball drop’s airing so that they can see both if they wish to.
“I think the event really shows that Salemburg’s got a big heart. Salemburg’s mostly made up of family and friends, and this just gives us a time where we can all come together and have a good time. There’s a lot of new folks that just moved to town and this gives them a little something to do.”
As the heart was hoisted up Wednesday night, the crowd engaged in a count down with the main attraction then slowly lowered to the ground. Upon the heart drop, an array of fireworks shot out above the crowd, creating a colorful display against the night sky. While the fireworks were enjoyed by the crowd, town officials would only say it was done by an unknown and unaffiliated party.
“I didn’t know we were gonna have that many fireworks,” said Warren.
“That was not done by the town of Salemburg,” said Town Clerk Teresa Smith. “We don’t know who did it, but it wasn’t us.”
At any rate, the event marked an end of a year of progress for the town. The town’s mayor hopes that this same progress will continue over into the following year.
“We’ve grown a lot as a town in the last several years,” said Warren. “Our employees, our commissioners have done a great job and because of that, we’ve grown. We’ve improved our water systems, our sewer systems, we just finished putting in our public works building. In February, we’re putting in a new well. We’ve been so blessed this year and with getting grant money in to help us get some of this stuff done.We’re also working on getting grant money for a new park and things like that. We’re really starting to grow as a town.”