Brown County venues planning to ring in New Year

(Brown County Democrat) — As the calendar year ends on Tuesday, with it comes opportunities for reflection, anticipation and closure.

While it is observed in various parts of the world with traditions such as eating cabbage, black-eyed peas or 12 grapes, firecrackers, fireworks, the toll of church bells or clock towers, a ball drop celebration and a midnight kiss, Brown County has its own ways to ring in the new year.

The Brown County Inn, 51 State Road 46 E., Nashville, will open its restaurant for the day starting at 4 p.m., hotel owner Courtney Gosser said. The restaurant will “serve our traditional menu until 9 p.m., then move to a late-night menu from 9 to 11 p.m.” There will also be an acoustic duet, Sean Lamb & Janet Miller, performing from 9 p.m. to midnight.

“The capacity is very limited, so we are not taking reservations in the bar,” Gosser said.

Many other local restaurants and hotels will be hosting events including the New Year’s Eve celebration, “a toast to home” at The Ferguson House, 78 Franklin St., Nashville, from 8 p.m. to midnight.

“Celebrate the heart of our community with an evening of joy, connection and togetherness at your favorite local gathering spot,” according to event information. Hors d’oeuvres will be available all evening as well as drinks and specialty cocktails in the cozy bar and dining room before the champagne toast at midnight.

Presale tickets are $35 or $40 at the door and can be purchased online.

The Story Inn, 6404 State Road 135 S., Nashville, is having their annual New Year’s Eve bash with dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. and live music from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The Inn will be serving the Victorian menu and seating ends around 7:30 p.m. to give everyone time to finish dinner before the music begins.

Reservations are required for those looking to eat in the fine dining restaurant, but food will also be available in the tavern until around 10 p.m. and a late night menu will be available until around midnight. A champagne toast is on the books to accompany the celebration at midnight.

Aaron Harden, event manager at the inn, has been planning the annual bash since 2017 and has included Indiana native and musician Robert Rolfe Feddersen nearly every year.

Harden said he and Fedderson “met through the craft beer world and he used to play my New Year’s party at my house. … He would come down here to Brown County to play my personal party, and then when I started helping Story book all their stuff, I brought him on and they have loved him ever since.” The only bash Fedderson did not attend was 2023, but he is “back again this year.”

Tickets are not required for the bash and registration is not required to listen to the music, however, attendees are asked to adhere to the theme. “It’s a western wear, Yellowstone theme for the party,” Harden says, themed decorations are expected as well.

For those looking to spend the end of one year and beginning of another surrounded by nature, the Brown County State Park, 1405 State Road 46 West, Nashville, is offering a few options for New Year’s Eve and Day:

• First Day Hike at Ogle Lake, Wednesday, Jan. 1 from noon to 1:30 p.m., starting from the Ogle Lake Parking Lot.
• Civilian Conservation Corps History Talk, Tuesday, Dec. 31, from 3 to 3:45 p.m. in the upstairs lobby of the Abe Martin Lodge.
• First Day Hike on the Friends’ Trail, Wednesday, Jan. 1, from 10 to 11 a.m., starting from the Brown County State Park office.

This article originally appeared in the Brown County Democrat.