Central Pa. cities make plans for a subdued New Year’s Eve as COVID-19 pandemic surges

• By Julia Hatmaker/PennLive

There is, perhaps, no year that people are more excited to say goodbye to than 2020.

But festivities will be sparse, due to continuing safety efforts because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In central Pennsylvania, New Year’s Eve is a time to let its culture’s quirkier side shine. Giant roses and pickles are dropped, humongous Hershey Kisses are raised and strawberries descend — but this year, all of that is canceled.

COVID-19 has meant it isn’t safe for people to gather in large numbers. So towns have had to make tough decisions. Some, like Dillsburg, have canceled their events. Others have modified them. Hershey, for example, will only set off fireworks. Lancaster will have two firework displays in two locations in the city, and a roving group of DJs playing on trucks to entertain people in different neighborhoods. Harrisburg has made its entire New Year’s Eve celebration virtual.

None of these were easy decisions to make.

Planning for New Year’s Eve really gets underway in September. Even by then, the Hershey’s New Year’s Eve Committee knew that having an event would be a longshot. But they were determined to do something.

“We felt that it was really important to do something for the town,” said Jessica Callahan, the marketing chair for the committee.

The group of volunteers flirted with doing a virtual celebration, but ultimately decided against it. But they knew a fireworks display was going to happen no matter what.

“We know it’s challenging to set off any celebration that could involve people gathering, but we felt it was really important to mark a hopeful new year for our community in this transition away from 2020 and into 2021,” Callahan said.

With fireworks as the only New Year’s star, the committee opted to make this display bigger than ever. And, because it’s always been about celebrating the community, they’re using the money they usually reserve for marketing and used it to celebrate local businesses. They’re giving away free $50 gift cards every day to a local business on their Facebook page.

Even with the giveaways and a promise of a firework display, it still isn’t the same. Callahan noted that people seem to be accepting of the change of plans, but there has been, in her words, a “collective disappointment in what this year has been.”

The volunteers of the Pickle Committee, which puts on the Dillsburg Pickle Drop, among other events, have faced some criticism for canceling their New Year’s Event. But the critics haven’t been from the borough of Dillsburg, according to committee member Karen Deibler. Instead, they’re from out-of-town. The critics have called the committee “scaredy cats” and a few other not-so-nice terms, all under the belief that the events are canceled because of fears over the virus.

While COVID-19 certainly is part of the reason there won’t be a Dillsburg party, that’s not the whole truth. The virus meant that the facilities that are used during the event are closed to the public. The church and school are where family festivities are held, and money raised from those events helps fund the fireworks. Not being able to have any indoor events meant those festivities couldn’t be held, which in turn meant there wasn’t any money.

Deibler said the group put off making a decision as long as they could in hopes that things would change. That wasn’t the case, with Pennsylvania in the midst of another surge in cases.

“We tried,” she said. “We wanted to end the year on something good for the people, for the residents — but we couldn’t make it work.”

Harrisburg, on the other hand, had a physical location — but it didn’t pass COVID-19 muster. Crowding people into one block on Second Street didn’t sound like the safest idea to Megan Roby, the marketing and events manager for the city.

“It’s really a condensed space and we’re not able to safely social distance the attendees,” she said.

So it’s shifting everything online, with a virtual countdown to midnight for kids and another one for adults. The video countdowns will use scenic locations, and the one for kids will feature Rascal, the mascot for the Harrisburg Senators. The one for grown-ups will feature messages from residents and businesses. It’ll end with a montage of past firework displays.

“We’re trying to do similar activities, ones that look familiar but are done in a safe way that everyone can celebrate at home,” Roby said.

That’s the thought pattern behind Lancaster’s festivities.

“We have really been intentional about not canceling anything, but adapting our events to be safe and also to lift the spirits of our residents and have some fun,” said Annie Weeks, director of the city’s office of promotions.

In an effort to keep people from congregating in one spot, Lancaster is putting on two firework displays at 8 p.m., one at Hand Middle School and the other by Clipper Magazine Stadium. The earlier firework display time is being done to make the event more family friendly. The shows are expected to last approximately 15 minutes.

Since bringing people together in one spot is frowned upon, Weeks and her team are bringing the New Year’s Eve celebrations to the people instead. They’re in the midst of coordinating a mini parade of DJs on illuminated trucks that can tour neighborhoods playing music.

“It’s something fun. It’s fun for us to plan. It’s fun to highlight local talent. And it’s fun to give residents something to look forward to,” Weeks said.

While this year’s celebrations aren’t the usual, the New Year’s Eve coordinators are all reminding themselves that this is just one year. They all pledge to be back next year bigger and better than ever — provided the pandemic is under control.