<p>An 800-pound fiberglass peach _ the centerpiece of the biggest New Year's celebration in the Southeast _ has been a magnet not only for revelers but also for pigeons.</p><p>After the annual celebration, care of the giant peach involves scrubbing away pigeon poop, storage in a warehouse and a $750 makeover involving painting and airbrushing.</p><p>On New Year's Eve, the fake fruit is attached to a 138-foot light tower in downtown Atlanta. Shortly before midnight it begins a 65-second descent, with "2007" flashing when it reaches a certain level and the clock strikes midnight.</p><p>The Peach Drop has been a staple of Atlanta's New Year's Eve tradition since 1989. The city took the idea from New York City's annual ball drop in Times Square.</p><p>The fruit's plunge anchors a 16-hour celebration involving fireworks, live music, balloon art and other activities. More than 175,000 people attended last year's event, according to organizers.</p><p>The drop will be broadcast, live, to 50 cities. But that's not always good news: Two years ago, a college student's out-of-state girlfriend broke up with him after watching him kiss someone else at a televised Peach Drop.</p><p>The peach is 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Most of the year, it is stored in a 75,000-square-foot warehouse belonging to Entertainment Design Group, an Austell, Ga.-based event production company.</p><p>New Year's Eve has sometimes been a rough affair in Atlanta. Twice in 18 years, revelers were hurt by gunshots that were fired into the air and came back down. But organizers note that's far from a regular occurrence.</p><p>Atlanta was soaked by rain Sunday, but that doesn't matter _ the Peach Drop is a rain-or-shine event.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cda194)</p>
