HARRISON – It was a nice, slow drop.

The last three minutes of 2004 became a shared fixation for an estimated crowd of 500 people watching the New Year’s Eve ball drop at Harrison Town Hall.

“It went pretty well,” said Russ Merrill, a local electrician who worked alongside other volunteers to make the ball drop a reality. With the months of preparations that went into the event, having the ball drop come off without any big problem was a relief.

“I slept good all weekend,” he said.

Averill Davis worked the cable and winch at the base of the flagpole, beginning the drop at three minutes to midnight. Merrill yelled out with a megaphone at the two-minute and one-minute marks, then the crowd joined in for the final 10-second countdown.

“We were shocked to see the amount of people in the village waiting for the ball drop,” said Merrill’s wife, Martha. After the ball drop, she said, the crowd broke into an impromptu version of “Auld Lang Syne.”

Merrill said there was a minor problem, causing the ball to spiral down the pole as it descended, but that should be corrected for next year.

The ball drop marked the official kickoff of a yearlong bicentennial celebration, marking 200 years since the town was incorporated on March 15, 1805. The ball and pole cost about $8,000, with the money coming from a $25,000 bicentennial celebration fund raised by taxes.