CELEBRATING THE NEW YEAR IN RURAL MICHIGAN

By Ted Colin
Every year since 2009 there has been a big  "Eve of New Years Eve" celebration in down town Pine Nuts City Michigan. The celebration of the coming of the New Year is held the day before New Years Eve since everyone in Pine Nuts City will travel to a real city to celebrate the elaborate festivities that areas with a better tax base can afford. In addition to a low tax base, Pine Nuts City does not have any stores or churches or clubs that can help organize and pay for really elaborate festivities.

Although Pine Nuts City lacks the finances for an elaborate celebration of the new year the 14 and 2/3 residents of the small town (the 2/3 is the child that Randy and Heather are expecting), make up for their stark lack of funds with a spirit of heart that cannot be measured in the number of fancy balls being droped or fireworks or fancy musical artists.

The Eve of New Years Eve celebration begins with the entire population of the town gathering around one of the large red pine tries that are up on the hill behind the mayor’s house. Once the residents are assembled around one of the pre-chosen trees the town’s people hold hands and sing the old spiritual song from the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie “Ding, Dong the witch is dead…”

Once the musical part of the program is completed and the clock strikes midnight the Mayor takes out his twenty inch chain saw. The chainsaw the mayor uses has been in his family since his son bought it for him two years ago at a garage sale.

The town crowd is very quiet as they look on as the mayor proceeds to cut the mighty red pine down. The height of the red pine trees on the hill average about 100 feet and the average circumference is approximately 3 ½ feet. It is always fun to watch people scurry out of the way just in time as the tree smashes into the snow. In 2009 there were 18 residents participating in the tree drop but because four of them were not paying close attention to the monster tree as it fell, there are just the 14 residents now with of course the expected child coming along in about another three months.

After the cutting down of the mighty red pine the towns people meander down the hill behind the mayor’s house and reassemble at the crossroads of the main street and M-72. The only local business owner is a big bald hairy armed man named Burly. Burly owns a junk yard and gets old wrecked cars and other items made from metal ready to ship overseas. On the Eve before New Years Eve Burly will pile several of his wrecked vehicles in the center of the highway M-72 and Main Street crossroads and set them on fire. All the plastics and rubber tires in the vehicles serve to make an awesome fire that really lights up the town and can be seen for miles away by cars and trucks traveling down M-72. The roaring fire and the smells given off by the melting plastics and the rubber tires makes everyone very giddy and light headed with joy.

Pine Nuts City is a small town in the backwoods of Michigan but, it is steeped in tradition including their famous" Eve of New Years Eve" Celebration.