Published November 14. 2023 10:42AM
by Donald R. Serfass dserfass@tnonline.com
Event organizers are looking for one or more sponsors for the 26th Annual Tamaqua Ball Rise festivities planned for New Year’s Eve.
“It’s open to any club, organization or individual, or even a combination of those who’d maybe prefer to join together and split the cost,” said Pat Freeh-Stefanek, affiliate director of the ABC Tamaqua High Rise, event host.
Freeh-Stefanek said the cost to sponsor the event is $500.
“Sponsors also are free to attach a banner to the side of the building,” she said.
The event is touted as the region’s largest, highest and brightest New Year’s Eve celebration.
Plans are still being formulated, she said.
The Tamaqua Ball Rise is expected to begin at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31 at 222 East Broad Street, Route 209, and will feature a celebration done in tandem with New York City.
It typically includes a live feed of activities at Times Square and features lighted eagles that make their way some 170 feet to the top of the high-rise.
The event was devised in 1998 as a one-time spectacle to usher in the 1999 Tamaqua Founding Bicentennial Celebration but has since become a Tamaqua tradition.
Interested parties are welcome to contact Freeh-Stefanek at 570-668-0313 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Tony Fannock of Tamaqua, foreground, and Frank Fabrizio of Brockton, lighting technicians, work 170 feet high as they carefully affix oversized numbers to the north side of the ABC Tamaqua High Rise building last November in preparation for the town's New Year's Eve celebration. A sponsor is being sought for this year's event, set for Dec. 31. DONALD R. SERFASS/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS