Buzzard Drop in Perry Boosts Dollars at Local Businesses

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The first ever Buzzard Drop in Perry, brought out huge numbers in the downtown area, and nearby businesses are seeing a huge boost.

Officials in Perry had no idea what to expect for their first ever Buzzard Drop when the countdown into the New Year began.

Just ask Mary Beth Bass.

She’s the Economic Development Director.

The hundreds of people packing into downtown caught her by surprise.

“We didn’t know if we’d have the draw that we were hoping for from middle Georgia, but it turned out we absolutely did,” Bass said.

With only a few months of publicity, Bass didn’t expect the huge crowd that brought in the New Year, but she thinks businesses reaped huge benefits.

“Our restaurants were full. We had lines out the door at the coffee shop. The breakfast at the new Perry hotel, it sold out. The rooms sold out. I mean in terms of economic impact, it was very, very well received,” Bass said.

Rusty’s Grill and Bar, a few feet away from where the action happened, had a packed house the entire night.

“Oh yes. We were crazy I had to come in early and prepare for a crazy night, and even then we pretty ran out of pretty much everything,” Mikailea McDowell, a bartender at Rusty’s, said.

“A lot of people were surprised that there was so much down here. And they were like we’ll come back and see you. We didn’t even know you existed. It was awesome,” she said.

Bass says the success of the Buzzard Drop set the bar pretty high, but believes similar events could be in the works.

“I think the residual impact of that will be good as long as we can continue to provide events and opportunities that are good for the quality of life. I think our business community is certainly going to benefit from that,” Bass said

It’s too early to tell just how many dollars the city brought in, but Bass told me plans are already in the works for an even bigger Buzzard Drop to bring in 2015.

She thinks it’s definitely an event that’s here to stay.