While Hattiesburg officials like to make old things new again, they also believe in celebrating bigger and better each time. For New Year’s Eve – the second annual Midnight on Front Street – the Hub City will pump up the volume and light up the sky.
Mayor Toby Barker led a group of stakeholders recently through the features of the celebration, starting with its inception in 2018.
“Since we came into office a couple of years ago,” he said. “The whole vision for Hattiesburg is for us to no longer be content with the best in the state. We wanted to be a destination city in the Gulf South. That means having events that become traditions that everyone look forward to. People come from not only around the city but also around the region to be part of it.”
Discussing the Midnight on Front Street celebration are, from left, emcee Jim Coll of the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker, Police Chief Anthony Parker, Fire Chief Sherrocko Stewart, City Electrician Skip Matthews, Andrea Saffle of Downtown Hattiesburg and Marlo Dorsey of VisitHATTIESBURG.
Hattiesburg decided to take a leap of faith and work to change things.
“For New Year’s Eve, we did a trolley a few years to try and really bring people in the downtown,” he said. “We have several other things to try and make downtown a real nice spot for New Year’s Eve. But what we did this year is that there’s always been this idea of a ball-drop.”
Before last year’s New Year’s Eve, Barker let it be known that the city was going to do some type of ball-drop for 2020–it was just something the city had to do.
“We’re going to do this. We brought together some people – Mike Essary from Neel Shaffer, who knew John Aust, who made this incredible sign. Then, we got our fire chief and our assistant chief to see how we could drop this safely.”
So, the tradition was begun for New Year’s Eve in Hattiesburg. Now, with the challenge of the inaugural event last year, the stakes are higher, Barker said.
“So, within three-four weeks, we pulled this together, and a lot of people participated in it and made it happen,” he said. “We had 3,000-4,000 people that first year. So, as we go into this year, everyone’s kind of thinking about New Year’s Eve already and what that would look like and how we grow to make it even more memorable for people.”
John Aust designed and built the replica of the iconic sign that will be used in the midnight drop.
The sign has a history that dates back to 1912 when the original was placed on top of the American building until World War II. Then, it was brought down for scrap.
“A pastor named E.D. Solomon said these words when it was lowered,” Barker said.– ‘It is the Hattiesburg spirit to go after things and to get them, especially large things. If this sign is an indication, Hattiesburg would indeed become the hub.’ – “It is very prophetic because we have become a hub over the last hundred years due to the efforts of a lot of people,” added Barker.
Barker said the city also reached out to artists in the community to become a symbol for the celebration.
“We know we’re a destination for artists, and we don’t do a good job telling our story,” he said.
“So, as we tried to bring local partners together to involve everyone in this effort, we looked at how to put the call for artists out. We had the idea to create an annual poster.”
The work of Glenda Grubbs was chosen to illustrate Midnight on Front Street in the inaugural poster contest. She talked about her love for the Hub City.
Glenda Grubbs with her poster that won the competition to illustrate Midnight on Front Street.
“I grew up in Richmond,” she said. “I went to the University of Southern Mississippi, where a building named The Hub; I spent a few hours there. This area is very important to both my husband and me; we met here in Hattiesburg.”
“We lived in Los Angeles for years, and when we decided we didn’t want to live in that big city any longer, we chose Hattiesburg to come back to because we just love this town, the people, and this area. I love to paint things that inspire me and make me happy, and it’s something that’s touching. When I read that story and never heard it before, I knew immediately I hadn’t had to paint it, whether I put it in the contest or not.”
Marlo Dorsey, executive director of VisitHATTIESBURG, said the Hub City has made a name for itself as one of the Top 25 holiday destinations in the country, according to Expedia.
“That is a testament to what our community has to offer,” she said. “We are all working really hard to be able to do better than last year.”
Several additions to the 2019 Midnight on Front Street include a dual fireworks show, local hotel packages, extended restaurant and nightspot hours, food vendors, and a $500 Hotel Indigo sweepstakes.
“What a great way to create another great tradition for Hattiesburg,” Dorsey said, “when you don’t have to go anywhere else.”
The connection with the past, the present, and the future are wrapped up in the sign.
The sign is a replica of the original sign that was illuminated in 1912 on Thanksgiving Day. It is outfitted with 720 LED lights and suspended about 100 feet in the air at the intersection of Front and Main streets.
The sign drop serves as a visual countdown as the clock strikes midnight, which will be followed by a dual fireworks display.