Everything we know so far about the Sault’s first New Year’s puck drop

Sault Ste. Marie's noise bylaw, signed 44 years ago by then-mayor Nicholas Trbovich, makes it very illegal to yell, shout, hoot, whistle or sing after 11 p.m.

But city councillors are expected to approve a special exemption on Tuesday, allowing all that fun stuff to happen when Sault Ste. Marie conducts its first 'puck drop' next month on New Year's Eve.

As SooToday reported earlier this year, Saultites were allowed to vote on whether they wanted to drop a giant hockey puck or a shimmering sphere branded with city colours.

The pucksters narrowly won the city-conducted poll, beating the ballers 1,276 to 1,246.

SooToday conducted its own poll, with our readers overwhelmingly favouring a third option: they wanted their property taxes to drop on New Year's Eve.

Brent Lamming, now the city's deputy CAO for community development and enterprise services, said at the time that the puck would be fabricated by local public works staff and suspended on a Speed Steel crane about 80 feet in the air over the plaza.

The festivities will be sponsored by GFL Environmental.

"We wanted to create excitement in the community for this new tradition . . . A puck drop offers a fresh twist on the classic tradition that is inspired by our city's love for hockey," Lamming said.

"The New Year’s Eve event, which will take place at the Downtown Plaza, will require an exemption to Bylaw 80-200," says Virginia McLeod, the city's manager of recreation and culture.

"The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. on December 31 and end at 12:45 a.m. The first portion of the evening will focus on family-based and children’s activities, with the first puck drop at 8 p.m. and second drop occurring at midnight," McLeod says.

"Programming will continue throughout the evening, with the festivities wrapping up at 12:45 a.m."

Law-abiding SooToday readers will want to stick a sock in it after 1 a.m. on January 1, when Mayor Trbovich's anti-pandemonium rule comes back into effect.

The next city council meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Sault Ste. Marie's council meetings usually happen on Mondays, but Nov. 11 is Remembrance Day.

The meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday.