With just days to go before the world rings in a new year — and new decade — Tom Brennan, master artisan with Fiskars, a division of Waterford, is hard at work to make sure the famed crystal ball in Times Square is ready to dazzle revelers at the stroke of midnight on January 1.
"This is the only moment in time that everybody pauses for just a moment," Brennan told Cheddar on Friday while standing next to the pièce de résistance. "We don't do this other times of the year."
A team of engineers is installing 192 new Waterford crystal triangles on the ball that features this year's unique design, which Waterford is calling "Gift of Goodwill," the latest in its "Greatest Gifts" series.
The new crystals will make up just a fraction of the 2,688 triangles on the ball, which measures 12 feet across and weighs nearly six tons.
The New Year's tradition has been going on in Times Square, the crossroads of the world, since 1904, and the first ball drop happened in 1907.
Brennan stresses that it's not just him, or the team on the ground in New York that pulls off this global feat. "It is a global togetherness," he said. Waterford has craftsmen working on the project in its factories in Ireland, plus the engineers and marketers.
"It's amazing to think that this small city in the southeast of Ireland with just 47,000 people are here on top of the world. We're going to have 1.2 billion people watching us in just a few days' time, so no pressure."
Many brands and industries are announcing their predictions for new trends to watch in 2022. According to Forbes, cooking robots and plant-based meat are just some of the many food trends that are expected to dominate. Jeff Crivello, CEO of BBQ Holdings, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
YouTube star and dancer JoJo Siwa and mom Jess Siwa joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to talk about their show "Dance Pop Revolution" alongside their girl-group XOMG Pop who were formed from the show's competitors. JoJo, who got her own start on Lifetime's "Dance Moms," talked about the differences between competing at such a young age to having the opportunity to executive produce her own project. She also talked about her time on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and competing as the franchise's first same-sex couple.
Boxed, an e-commerce grocery platform that sells bulk consumables to businesses and household customers, began trading under the ticket symbol "BOXD" after completing a transaction with SPAC Seven Oaks Acquisition. Chieh Huang, co-founder and CEO of Boxed joins Cheddar News to talk about the company's growth.
Live music took a big hit last year, and many artists had to cancel or postpone their tours to 2022. Many partnered with the graphic novel company Z2 Comics to make money by creating unique comic book stories. Josh Bernstein, executive vice president of Z2 Comics, and Sridhar Reddy, founder and publisher at Z2 Comics, join Cheddar News to talk about the company's popularity.
On this episode of Your Future Home, Ryan Trudell, VP of Landscape Architecture, Creative Environments, breaks down factors that have led homeowners to become wearier of their living spaces, driving greater demand for outdoor living experiences; Jean Chatzky, CEO of HerMoney.com, discusses ways new homeowners can protect their budget and restore some peace of mind—even if they’ve made the decision to waive an inspection; Cheddar breaks down everything you need to know about how to properly winterize your home.
Not only do outdoor living environments increase the number of spaces you now have for entertainment, but you will see a high return on investment and add value to your home. Ryan Trudell, VP of Landscape Architecture, Creative Environments, joins Your Future Home to break down factors that have led homeowners to become wearier of their living spaces, driving greater demand for outdoor living experiences.
Jean Chatzky, CEO of HerMoney.com, joins Your Future Home to discuss ways new homeowners can protect their budget and restore some peace of mind—even if they’ve made the decision to waive an inspection.
