Vincennes First Celebration

Vincennes First Celebration

VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) — The city of Vincennes’ annual watermelon drop that helps

New Year’s Eve revelers usher in the new year also will serve as the kickoff event for

Indiana’s 200th birthday.

Organizing committee member Rick Linenburg tells the Vincennes Sun-Commercial that

he received word last week that the committee’s application to be the celebration’s first

official event had been approved.

Traditionally Vincennes has welcomed the new year with the spectacle of watermelons

dropping about 100 feet from a giant manmade watermelon onto a “splatform” as

fireworks soar skyward.

Linenburg says planning already has begun, but now that the committee has received

the approval it plans to try to get more organizations involved. He says the two events

will combine to make for one heck of a celebration.