Brutally cold weather thins crowd at Mushroom Drop

Area residents, visitors continue tradition of ringing in new year with steel mushroom

KENNETT SQUARE » The brutally cold weather on New Year’s Eve for the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square didn’t deter Ethel Ann Murphy from attending the event.

“This is happening,” said Murphy, of Kennett Square. “There is no place else I’d rather be right now.”

With the temperature at 8 degrees Fahrenheit, and a wind chill registering at minus 4 degrees, the crowd was sparse, perhaps 1,000 people. And the majority of the crowd arrived after 11:30 p.m., just in time for the 600-pound stainless steel mushroom drop. In the past four years, State Street near Union Street was elbow-to-elbow, with thousands of people attending.

“The cold kept some people away,” said Kathi Lafferty, organizer for Midnight in the Square, “but just look at that moon,” she said pointing to a fully illuminated full moon.

It was so cold, in fact, that the 10-piece band “The Funsters” were moved indoors to the Garage Youth Center off of Union Street.

But some parents brought their young children, bundled to the max, and some fathers hoisted them upon their shoulders for a better view.

“This is incredible,” said Viliam Walla, of Dresden, Germany, a Rotary exchange student staying in

Boston. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

About 10 minutes before midnight, Neil Diamond’s song “Sweet Caroline” came on and it energized the crowd, who sang along. The song has been a tradition ever since the Mushroom Drop began five years ago.

Fred McCarthy, who proposed to his then-girlfriend, Jackie, at the Mushroom Drop two years ago, sang songs on his guitar, and announced he and his nowwife are expecting a child in February.

Despite a smaller than usual crowd, security was extremely tight. This year, police cruisers blocked both ends of State Street to prevent a vehicle attack.

“We’ve had no problems at all,” said Bill Holdsworth, Kennett Square police chief.

Because it was so cold, most of the crowd dispersed right after the mushroom landed.

CHRIS BARBER — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Spectators reach out to touch the mushroom following its descent at midnight at the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square.

The town was treated to a spectacular laser show at the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square.

CHRIS BARBER — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Spectators reach out to touch the descended mushroom at the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square.

Master of Ceremonies Tom Lafferty kept the action lively in the cold at the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square.

The mushroom sits high above State Street earlier in the evening ready for its big moment at midnight.

For most of the spectators, earmuffs replaced the New Year’s Eve celebratory headgear at the fifth annual Mushroom Drop in Kennett Square.

Fred and Jackie McCarthy, who got engaged at the Mushroom Drop two years ago, announced that they are expecting a child in February.

The landing corral for the mushroom was adorned with various items of art symbolic of mushrooms.

The Funsters moved their music inside in deference to the low temperatures outside.