ELLERBE — New York City has the Ball Drop. New Bern has the Bear Drop. This year, Richmond County will have the Berry Drop.
The Berry Patch will host the inaugural Ellerbe Berry Drop this coming New Year’s Eve at its location at Exit 25 off of U.S. 220, just a few miles east of the town’s limits.
The idea for the Berry Drop came from the other co-owner, his wife Amy Berry.
“I’m always looking for something different,” Amy Berry said. “We already have a huge strawberry, so we decided to do a little strawberry and make it unique.”
“It’s gone from a candy corn to a carrot and is officially a strawberry,” Lee Berry said during an interview with Richmond County Tourism Director Meghann Lambeth while shooting a video to promote the event.
While it is smaller than the famed “World’s Largest Strawberry” — the 24-foot, 2-ton ice cream shop — the one to be dropped is impressive on its own and may be the third-largest, behind the 15-foot effigy in Strawberry Point, Iowa.
A 14-foot strawberry frame sits at The Berry Patch before foam is added.
Courtesy Lee Berry
Lee Berry said it’s "definitely the second-largest in Ellerbe.”
The 14-foot (20 including the stem), 1,500 pound, mostly hollow strawberry was constructed by Tim Hawks and is made of foam, with a steel and plywood frame, according to Lee Berry. The stem is made from PVC pipe and the leaves from aluminum.
The project took about two months to complete.
Superior Cranes will lift the giant strawberry 100 feet from the ground and start slowly lowering it around 11:30 p.m., with it scheduled to touch the ground at midnight — followed by a $10,000, 20-minute fireworks show.
Prior to the drop, there will be live music starting at 8 p.m.
The Ag Center, which was open from Sept. 20-Oct. 31, will re-open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. for kids to play on New Year’s Day with several food trucks selling traditional vittles.
Lee Berry said they plan to make the Berry Drop an annual tradition.
It’s not the first ag-related drop in North Carolina: Mount Olive has the Pickle Drop; Burgaw has the Blueberry Drop; and Newport has the Pig Drop.
Other annual New Year’s Eve events across the state have included:
Brasstown formerly held the Possum Drop, but that tradition has been discontinued.
The Berry Patch was named Best Roadside Attraction in 2019 and 2022 — and placed third in 2021 — by Strange Carolinas. In 2020, the Berry Patch won Finest Ice Cream Shop in Carolina Country magazine’s Carolina’s Finest contest.
Lee Berry was recently elected to serve as mayor of Ellerbe and previously served three terms. He is a member of the Richmond County Tourism Development Authority Board of Directors and was named the state’s Sexiest Collard Farmer in 2023 by The State You’re In.
NOTE: This story has been updated to make minor gramatical adjustments. 7:16 p.m. 11-13-25. Graphics added 9:43 p.m. Edited to remove redundancy 11:17 p.m.
