TRAVERSE CITY -- Marjorie Doherty used to stay home with her family on New Year's Eve, but she's found an intriguing new holiday tradition in downtown Traverse City.
"We walked out the doors of the State Theatre, took about five steps and ran into a wall of people," said Doherty, referring to an overflow crowd that celebrated the inaugural Cherry-T Ball Drop in downtown Traverse City Thursday night. "It was much more crowded than I anticipated. It was shoulder-to-shoulder people. I would definitely do it again next year."
Local reaction to the Times Square-like ball drop overwhelmed local organizers, who've already begun to plan a second such event for 2010. Unofficial estimates put the crowd at more than 5,000 people.
"Overall, it was a great success. We came out very pleased and hope we can expand on it next year," said Brian Sweebe, an event planner and co-founder of NorthernSpin.com, an online magazine that helped publicize the evening.
"We had expected 500 and hoped for 1,000 and we got 5,000," Sweebe said.
Sarah Hunt has attended New Year's Eve celebrations in major cities like Chicago, and came away impressed with the downtown Traverse City experience.
"It was like a mini-Times Square; I was excited to be part of it," Hunt said. "I think it by far exceeded the crowd I expected."
A charity aspect of the event generated more than 2,500 pounds of food and toiletry items for the pantry at the Goodwill Inn. Cecil McNally, executive director of Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan, said donations will benefit residents of the agency's homeless shelter, as well as drop-in visitors to its food pantry.
"We got a lot more than we anticipated, especially for the first time around," said McNally, who was among the thousands who braved snow and cold to attend. "I thought it was a great event. It was wonderful to see that in downtown Traverse City."
Maria McKane didn't know what to expect when she met up with friends to head downtown, but said she wasn't disappointed.
"We thought, 'Who knows? Let's check it out,'" McKane said. "But we thought it was a great thing ... instead of the Big Apple, we have the Big Cherry. It was awesome."
A 200-foot crane lowered a lighted cherry ball at midnight. The crane is being used for construction at 101 N. Park St., a mixed-use project by local developer Thom Darga, another event co-organizer.
Darga said the crowd size and enthusiasm spoke to the resiliency and spirit of northern Michigan residents, despite tough economic times.
"People are not down; they may have been set back a bit," Darga said. "To me, it was an affirmation that there's still warmth and vitality in the region."
The event boosted downtown businesses. Sweebe, a manager at Red Ginger downtown, said the ball drop helped the restaurant almost double its New Year's Eve traffic from last year.
"It had a wonderful impact for Red Ginger," he said. "Normally, people are out of here by 10:30 that night."
Espresso Bay coffee shop at Front and Cass streets also did brisk business.
"We were constantly busy that night," employee Tarah Elhardan said. "The line was wrapped around to the shop next door."
City police added two extra patrol officers for the event, and called in two other units as the crowd expanded just before midnight, city police Capt. Steve Morgan said. Problems were limited to a few alcohol-related matters, he said.
"We did have some of those issues; they were minor, though," Morgan said. "The crowd was very well-behaved for this event."
