Nothing says "Happy New Year" like a giant sausage - or a historic general or an oversize walleye dangling from a hook.

Elmore has jumped into the pool of area communities that ring in the new year with their own versions of New York City's crystal ball drop.

As the seconds tick down to 2007 tonight, a sausage will be lowered in Elmore at the same time that unofficial mascots Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne will descend in Waterville and Capt. Wylie Walleye will be dropped in Port Clinton.

In Elmore, officials with the Ottawa County village are inviting the public to "meat" them at the "wurst event of the year" and "get lit up with us." That's a reference to the 10-foot sausage emblazoned with more than 1,500 tiny lights that will descend from a 50-foot pole in Depot Park.

"In a small town, you have to do something for your own entertainment," Elmore Mayor Lowell Krumnow said.

Village residents may remember the sausage from 2001, when it was made from a curved plastic drain pipe to be used for the first night of Elmore's year-long 150th birthday party.

As it did then, the sausage honors one of the community's longest-running businesses, Tank's Meats, located at 3355

South State Rt. 51, just north of the Ohio Turnpike. Tank's will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2007, and sausages are one of its biggest sellers, co-owner Marcia Amstutz said.

The Elmore eve celebration will also feature a sausage-tossing and sausage-eating contest, and a "nip 'n dip" for cash prizes. Children can enter a "dress your hot dog" contest using decorations they bring from home. A live band will rock out from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and food and beverages will be available.

The cover charge for the event, sponsored by Tank's Meats and the Elmore Historical Society, is $3 for children and $5 for adults.

Over in Waterville in southwest Lucas County, a tradition started last year will continue when Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne is lowered outside Mad Anthony's Tavern at the stroke of midnight.

But this year, General Wayne is "new and improved." He has shed his life-sized, blow-up dummy image and has been transformed into a large mannequin made out of fabric.

"It's just really like a stuffed scarecrow with a real face," said Waterville resident Loretta Ishler, who added that she spent about eight hours creating the new "General."

Yet the game plan is the same as last year: ceremoniously drop the general by rope and pulley from the roof of the two-story historic tavern on Third Street to celebrate the new year, tavern owner Kim Crawford said.

"We're just going to drop him and hopefully [the event] becomes something on a grander scale," she said. "We'll just see how this one goes."

The tavern will be open from noon to 2:30 a.m. and will have a D.J., appetizers, and noisemakers.

General Wayne is remembered mostly for leading U.S. troops to victory over a force of Native Americans during the Battle of Fallen Timbers, fought near present-day Maumee in 1794.

His "Mad" nickname stems from his penchant for training and disciplining his troops to the point of mutiny, and his single-minded focus on his military duties.

For the 11th straight year, Port Clinton in Ottawa County will continue its widely popular tradition of lowering a 17-foot, 600-pound fiber-glass fish - Capt. Wylie Walleye - by crane into a giant net.

Once the fish hits the net at Madison and Perry streets, fireworks will be shot off over Lake Erie.

The free "Walleye Madness at Midnight" event begins at 3 p.m. For the first time, beer will be served in a tent on Madison and the city will host a rock/paper/scissors challenge at 8 p.m.

Children will have an opportunity to pin the tail on the fish, participate in bean-bag tosses, and touch Wylie before his plunge.

This year's festivities, which focus attention on Port Clinton's status as the center of walleye fishing, will include Elvis tribute artist Dan Galbincea, various walleye food, and Captain Wylie sweatshirts.

Port Clinton's successful celebration has spawned a series of similar New Year's events in the region over the years, but few have stuck.

For two years in Bryan, a sparkling ball dropped from the clock tower of the Williams County courthouse to an 18-foot Etch-a-Sketch model in honor of the toy's maker, Bryan-based Ohio Art Co. But officials decided against a third annual event because of declining interest and a lack of funds.

Pemberville marked the millennium by dropping an enormous fiber-glass tomato in honor of the tomato factory that has been at the edge of the Wood County village for more than 100 years.

That same year in Tiffin, 100 bags of hometown Ballreich potato chips fell from an oversized box. Neither event was repeated.

Port Clinton Mayor Tom Brown said last year's Walleye Madness event drew 12,500 people who pumped about $800,000 into the local economy. He said he's hoping to surpass those numbers tonight.

"I want to break the record this year," he said. "It's our anniversary year and I'm shooting for 15,000 [people]."

For more information on Port Clinton's celebration, visit www.walleyemadness.com.

Contact Erika Ray at:

eray@theblade.com or

419-724-6088.

First Published December 31, 2006, 3:33 p.m.