Falling fruit in Brooksville announces new year's arrival

From its rain-soaked beginnings, the family-style Tangerine Time event is now a tradition.

By LOGAN NEILL, Times Staff Writer
Published December 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Daniel Wallace | Times (2004)] Trenton Shenefield, then 4, tackled a wad of cotton candy at the Tangerine Time New Year's Eve event in 2004 at the Jerome Brown Community Center in Tom Varn Park.

BROOKSVILLE - For Wayne Vutech, the Tangerine Time New Year's Eve celebration is a gift to the community that gets better with age. But perhaps most important is that what started as little more than a hopeful whim has now become a full-blown Hernando County holiday tradition.

"Sometimes it's a bit hard to believe how far we've come with it," said Vutech, who along with a handful of volunteers helped launch Tangerine Time six years ago.

"People come up to me all the time and say what a great time they've had. It's nice to know that you can have something that unifies people and provides them a little fun, too."

Vutech, a businessman who considers himself a community-minded guy, first approached the city of Brooksville in 2002 with the idea of having an alcohol-free, family-style New Year's Eve event that would symbolize Hernando County's longtime reputation as the state's tangerine capital.

With the city's blessing, Vutech agreed to find community sponsors and help spread the word. He even offered to help build a giant vinyl tangerine that would be dropped as midnight approached.

The inaugural Tangerine Time didn't exactly get off to a roaring start. On the evening of the event, the skies opened up, letting loose a torrent of rain that didn't ease up until dawn. Vutech remembers that he and a group of about 100 hardy souls peered out of the Jerome Brown Community Center about midnight as two city workers heroically lowered the ceremonial tangerine.

Vutech credits a list of loyal helpers that he says has made the event a success, including volunteers from the Junior Service League of Brooksville, the Brooksville Rotary Club and the city of Brooksville.

Vutech, however, says he would love to attract more volunteers.

"It's definitely something that doesn't get done by itself," he said. "You're talking about an event that draws nearly a thousand people. We're spread a little thin at times."

Vutech said this year's event will be even more grand. In addition to free hot dogs, chips, sodas and T-shirts to the first 500 revelers, the event will feature plenty of live entertainment.

"The nice thing about it is that there's something for people of all ages," he said.

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or 352 848-1435.

IF YOU GO: 

New Year's celebration

Tangerine Time starts at 9 p.m. Monday at Tom Varn Park on Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville.

No alcohol is allowed and children younger than 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Suggested admission to the event is a boxed or canned food item, which will be donated to the Salvation Army of Hernando County's food bank.

For information, call 799-7420 or 544-5407.

[Last modified December 27, 2007, 20:16:58]