New Year's Eve Olive Drop Is 'Uniquely Bartlesville'

Celebrations were underway at the Price Tower on Tuesday night where, instead of a ball, an olive was to be dropped into a martini glass at midnight.

It's the tenth year the massive olive will be lowered into an even bigger martini glass in Bartlesville.

Kurt Johnson, a Bartlesville resident said, "The olive drop is just the opportunity to once a year revisit it."

A piece of architectural history was center stage for New Year's Eve in Oklahoma.

Director of Marketing and Development for the Price Tower, Lori Esser, said, "We wanted to create something unique in this destination."

The big olive dangling above the Bartlesville skyline waited for its debut when the clock struck midnight.

"This is our take of the big ball drop in New York City," Esser said.

Workers lower the olive into a seven-foot-tall martini glass to ring in the New Year.

Hotel rooms inside the Price Tower were also packed with people wanting to have the full experience of being in the Frank Lloyd Wright building.

Johnson and his wife said it's the only way to experience New Year's Eve in Oklahoma.

"I don't think anyone else drops an olive," he said. "There's some that drop a walleye fish, drop a pickle or drop a crystal ball in New York. This is uniquely Bartlesville, uniquely Oklahoma."

On top of that, the Price Tower olive drop for New Year's Eve has gained some national recognition.

Oprah Magazine listed the drop as one of a few places across the country that's doing more than just lowering a ball.

"We're one of six places to be tonight, so if you're at this party you're very exclusive," said Esser.

The New Year's Eve profits will go to the preservation of the Price Tower.