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The Jug will Drop at midnight on New Years Eve from the Hanging Tower of the first Barrow County Jail (now the Barrow County Museum).

My name is Beth Barton & I am a Trustee of the Barrow County Historical Society which operates the Museum in Winder. (Nearly 100 years ago, Winder was named Jug Tavern, well known for it's abundance of pottery manufacturing businesses - thus the reason our event will be a "Jug" Drop.) The building & adjoining old courthouse are still owned by the county so this will most definitely be an alcohol free event in which families can participate.

We will have live entertainment from 9 - midnight and a "Miss Jug" contest which will feature MEN dressed as WOMEN competing for the "prettiest" & most "talented". (Some prominent citizens from our area have already signed up for the contest.) The winner will be awarded a Gold Jug & will have the honor of "Dropping" the Jug at midnight. The Museum Volunteers will be selling Nodoroc Mud (hot chocolate named after our volcanic pit of the 1800's), Wog Nog (hot apple cider with red food coloring named after the legendary creature who roamed the area), Jail House Gin (bottled ginger ale), & Moon Shine (bottled water). We have several other non-profit organizations signed up to have food booths on site including a group of our Sheriff's Deputies who will be selling boiled peanuts as they make their presence known, preventing the possibility of any problems throughout the night. We will also have giveaways every hour (coupons, gift certificates & other things our local merchants have provided). The Jug will be raised to the top of the Hanging Tower & then lowered at midnight with much fan fair. It should be a memorable event!

The idea for the event was borrowed from the Possum Drop in Clay's Corner, North Carolina (you can see this online). One of our members & some friends attended that event last year in 20 degree weather. She thought we should do something similar in Winder (Jug Tavern). Maybe it won't be so cold! We are pretty excited about our first Jug Drop & know it will grow from here!

The event is not really a fundraiser but an awareness campaign for the museum. We have been open for 15 years & still have people in the county & other parts of Georgia that are not aware of this great community asset. There is no charge for admittance at any time & the building if FULL of artifacts & photos given to us by Barrow County citizens & their families. Each month we have a new feature display. For December, the feature display will include a HUGE whiskey still on loan to us from the North Georgia Mountain Fair, along with photos of the Sheriffs & their families that actually lived in the building from the time of it's creation in 1916 until the 1970's. This display ties in perfectly with the Jug Drop since illegal whiskey running was a well known crime in the area during prohibition. It is reported that one of the Sheriffs actually had a working whiskey still in the basement! Hey, free labor!

Please let me know if you have any questions & I thank you in advance for sharing this with your readers! See attached flyer & pictures of the Jug & Old Jail.

Beth Barton

BCHS - Trustee

770-868-7573