Locals host the town’s first ball drop
The Cape Gazette
By Kara Nuzback | Dec 30, 2011
DEWEY BEACH — Walking through Dewey Beach in the sleepy winter months, it can be hard to imagine the crowds that filled the roads and sidewalks in July and August. But there is one cold night when the masses return and storefronts and bars throw open their doors for business – New Year’s Eve.
This year, Dewey Beach will welcome 2012 with live music and champagne, as it always has. But some new events aim to add local flavor to the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Dewey Beach will see its first-ever ball drop. Harry Wilson, owner of Surfrider Condominiums and chairman of the town Planning Commission is organizing the event on New Orleans Street.
Wilson said he and longtime friend Jeff Ulsh, owner of convenience store Dewey Beach Market, came up with the idea after the East Coast Skimboarding Championships in August. Wilson said he and Ulsh wanted to create something for families who are not interested in spending New Year’s Eve in a bar.
Ulsh went to work fashioning a light-up, five-foot tall paper mache skimboarder, posed for action with a full-sized skimboard underneath. “The thing is awesome,” Wilson said.
The skimboarder will drop in front of the Dewey Beach Way of Life Clock outside Surfrider Condominiums in the moments before midnight. “People are really going to appreciate it I think,” Wilson said.
Dewey Business Partnership executive director Kelly Ranieri said local restaurants Scully’s Ocean Side Café and Gary’s Dewey Beach Grille will be open for the first time this New Year’s Eve. New restaurant Port will be celebrating its first New Year’s in Dewey Beach by offering dinner seatings at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 31. “The 8 o’clock seating is almost sold out,” said owner Mitch King.
King said at 10 p.m. the restaurant will host live music from local band Monkey Paw with a late-night buffet and a champagne toast at midnight.
Annual favorites
The Starboard will hold its annual New Year’s Eve celebration that includes music from DJ Smoky, a seafood and beef buffet and a champagne toast. Tickets are available at thestarboard.com.
The Rusty Rudder will host a New Year’s celebration with live music from Pennsylvania band Go-Go Gadget and Dewey Beach staples Love Seed Mama Jump. Food, drinks, a champagne toast and party favors are included in the price of a ticket. Tickets are available at deweybeachlife.com.
The Lighthouse in Ruddertowne will hold its annual New Year’s Eve celebration with live music from Philadelphia band The Loop, a food buffet and a champagne toast. Tickets are available at ruddertowneusa.com.