St. Paul bar plans to drop world's largest bobber for New Year's Eve celebrations
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- One of the oldest bars in Minnesota has a new take on New Year's Eve. Instead of dropping a ball at midnight, the Midway Saloon in St. Paul plans to drop a giant fishing bobber.
The Midway Saloon is iconic and a little bit nostalgic. There's a 100-year-old menu board that still shows liver-sausage sandwiches for 10 cents. But their take on New Year's Eve is far from outdated.
"Georgia has a peach, Texas has a boot," said Sara Yarbrough, of the Midway Saloon. "And what's more Minnesotan than a fishing bobber? It was just kind of a perfect fit."
The idea has been in the works for a few years. Finally, with the help of some local companies, a giant bobber was born. It's being stored in a building next to the Midway until New Year's.
The bobber has a 6-foot diameter and it's 16 feet in circumference. It's made out of vinyl.
The hope is that it'll be attached to a crane 50 to 100 feet in the air, and then it'll slowly drop during the midnight countdown onto the Midway's patio. Partiers can see both the ball drop in Times Square and the bobber drop in St. Paul.
"We want it to be as big as possible, and as we made it we kind of realized it's the largest bobber in the world that's functional," said David Kelly, Midway Saloon.
The bar's motto is "It's always a full moon at the Midway Saloon." But on New Year's Eve, the moon itself could be blotted out by the giant fishing bobber in the sky. One which might leave some wondering what it'd be like to use a bobber this big.
"I'd have to be catching a whale. Which is a Minnesotan's dream. A whale of a walleye," Yarbrough said.
The Midway Saloon said the company that makes Snoopy and Peanuts sculptures helped with the bobber, which is filled with air and is not much heavier than a beach ball.
The hope is to do something similar every New Year's Eve.