CLUB NEWS
December 2024 GREAT PINECONE DROP TURNS 25 FLAGSTAFF’S OWN NYE CELEBRATION by William Godfrey, Forest Highlands Club Historian By William Godfrey Forest Highlands Club Historian Who could have predicted a three-story drop of a decorated trashcan could become such a celebrated Flagstaff tradition.
Back in 1999, the proprietors of the Weatherford Hotel came up with an ingenious idea to toast New Year’s Eve in their own special way.
It was the brainchild of Henry Taylor and Pamela “Sam” Green, the owners of the hotel, located just off Heritage Square at 23 N. Leroux Street.
THE BACK STORY The proprietors had the wild idea to celebrate the new millennium with a takeoff of New York City’s ball drop, but what would it look like? Well…let’s have one of them tell us. Sam Green explained the goal of creating the event 25 years ago. “We wanted to do something fun, a little out there,” shared Green with Scott Cravens of the Arizona Republic. “Something people would remember.” So, back in mid-1999, Ms. Green took a deep dive into the basement of the hotel and its storage room. The only item that held much promise was a discarded trashcan. In a moment of serendipity, Green envisioned attaching lots of pinecones and wrap-around lights connected to the barrel. To create the tapered effect of a pinecone, she used plastic foam in the form of a layered wedding cake. When she flipped the creation over, it had the desired look. But then, she needed to forage the Ponderosa Pine Forest to gather hundreds of pinecones. After she glued them to the exterior, she added paint. Green then wrapped it with colored lights and added a heavy-duty wire hook on top. Permits from the city of Flagstaff followed. Sam Green then enlisted help from local engineers. They explained a 70-pound object had to have enough weight to avoid swaying before descent and a hoist strong enough to hold the Pinecone in place.
William Godfrey is an author, biographer and Forest Highlands Club Historian. He and his wife, Wendy Huck Godfrey, is currently co-chair of the Grants Committee of the Foundation. They have been Members since May 2021. He can be reached at 602-750-1468 or willgodd@gmail.com.
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VOICE IN THE PINES • DECEMBER 2024
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