Countdown begins to MoonPie New Year's celebration - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Countdown begins to MoonPie New Year's celebration

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By Patrice Clark - bio | email
The giant LED MoonPie weighs a total of 600 pounds. The giant LED MoonPie weighs a total of 600 pounds.

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MOBILE, AL (WLOX) -

Less than two months and counting until the New Year. Do you know what you are doing to ring in 2013? We hope part of it is ringing in the New Year with us and our live broadcast from Mobile for its MoonPie New Year. 

New Yorkers ring in the New Year with a gigantic ball. Georgia has a supersized, sweet peach. But in Mobile, Alabama, it's all about the flavorful MoonPie. 

"It is yummy, it is fun, and it is now New Year's Eve," Mobile resident Cheryl Gee said. 

Since 2008, the MoonPie drop in downtown Mobile has been the premier celebration in this region to usher in a new year and the Mardi Gras season. Mobile's mayor said people love to watch the 12 foot oversized Southern treat fall from the sky. 

"The first year we had some wind problems and some other problems, and didn't have but five or six hundred people, last year 60,000," Mayor Jones said. 

I know you are probably wondering why Mobile would pick a marshmallow cookie to drop over the city. Well, a MoonPie is a tasty and popular throw during the Mardi Gras season. And Mobile was the first city to actually have a Mardi Gras celebration.

Councilman Fred Richardson is the man behind the MoonPie vision. He's expecting this year's event to be a magnet for 100,000 people. 

"The Commodores will be here, we have three different stages, we have a ball for the homeless, we have a full fledged parade, we have a laser light show, fireworks, and it is on in the City of Mobile," Richardson said. 

And, if you can't be in Mobile for the fun you can tune in to the Raycom Media live broadcast and celebrate with us. That broadcast begins at 11:30 p.m. New Year's Eve night on WLOX ABC and WLOX CBS. 

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