Prior to the first ball drop, Ochs had held a fireworks display ... not hitting the bottom on time during multiple festivities or heavy rain causing the fireworks to smoke in the 2018-19 celebration.

[Dino] wanted to make this New Year’s celebration a bit more interesting, but he can’t make it to New York for the ball drop. Instead, he decided to make his own mini display in his workshop.

Following is a transcript of the video. Narrator: The New Year's Eve ball drop started over 100 years ago. Based on a 19th-century maritime tradition, "time balls" were once dropped down poles in ...