The tallest building in Schuylkill County will provide the setting for the area's largest New Year's Eve celebration.

Brilliantly lighted eagles will soar to the top of the ABC Tamaqua High Rise for the 18th Annual Tamaqua New Year's Eve Ball Rise coordinated by the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce.The event is billed as the region's largest, brightest and highest welcome to the new year.The celebration includes a jumbotron television with a live feed from Times Square in New York City, featuring the famous ball drop.The Tamaqua Ball Rise is free to the public and will begin at 10:15 p.m.As part of the spectacle, lighted eagles affixed to the building will soar 175 feet to the top of the high-rise, triggering the illumination of an oversized 2016 sign.The ball rise is a popular tradition with a colorful history.In its first year in 1998, it was called a ball drop and was intended as a one-time gimmick to introduce the arrival of Tamaqua's 200th birthday at the stroke of midnight, kicking off the yearlong Tamaqua Founding Bicentennial celebration.Two dozen members of the Tamaqua Bicentennial Committee came up with the idea and expected a modest crowd of 200 to 250 to line the sidewalks. To everyone's surprise, more than 1,000 converged on the block. Sidewalks could not contain the hordes. Revelers swarmed onto Broad Street shortly before midnight, forcing police to close Route 209, a U.S. highway.Since then, accommodations are made each year to allow for the throngs who turn out just before midnight.From the start, Brockton's Frank Fabrizio has engineered the light and sound spectacle, modeled after New York City's Times Square tradition. In later years, the ball was changed to an eagle, a symbolic mascot used by Tamaqua Area High School."It gives the event a uniquely Tamaqua flavor," says Fabrizio.The event has had its share of surprises and unusual circumstances.In 1999, the committee hyped the show as a big countdown to the new millennium and Tamaqua's step into its third century. That year, the ball went up, then down, and then continued to bounce up and down, setting off fireworks and a light show in front of a crowd of 1,200.There was added suspense that year, with many fearing the Y2K bug would blanket the region, and the entire country, in total darkness at the stroke of midnight. But the Y2K curse never happened.Many say the success of the annual ball rise is attributable to the novelty factor and the spirit of high-rise residents, a group that opens its arms on New Year's Eve to host the community and region.Some residents also open their apartment doors to help with preparation, as Fabrizio and his technicians need access to specific rooms within the building in order to install equipment.Organizers say support from the Tamaqua police department is an essential part of the evening and helps ensure a safe celebration.