Watermelon drop will usher in Indiana's bicentennial year

VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) - The southwestern Indiana city of Vincennes' annual New Year's Eve watermelon drop will serve double-duty this year as the kickoff event for Indiana's 200th birthday.

Organizing committee member Rick Linenburg tells the Vincennes Sun-Commercial (http://bit.ly/1DWdJJK ) he recently received word that the committee's application to be the Indiana bicentennial celebration's first official event had been approved.

Vincennes has welcomed the new year since 2008 with the spectacle of watermelons dropping about 100 feet from a giant manmade watermelon onto a "splatform" as fireworks soar skyward.

This year's watermelon drop will feature the introduction of a Night Time Air Show featuring more than 10 airplanes flying over the Wabash River.

The city's watermelon drop pays homage to Knox County's many melon farms.

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Information from: Vincennes Sun-Commercial, http://www.vincennes.com