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Noon Year's Eve party draws 400 revelers Hundreds of balloons are dropped at noon Saturday to an enthusiastic crowd gathered to celebrate ScienceWorks' annual Noon Year's Eve in Ashland. Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta Saturday Dec 31, 2016 at 3:24 PM Dec 31, 2016 at 3:27 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat The holidays were almost behind them, but about 400 kids and their parents spent their New Year's Eve eager to see what was inside one last package. After a ScienceWorks volunteer dropped 7-year-old Zoey Zimmerman's box from the second floor, the Bellview Elementary School second-grader carefully peeled back layers of tape, cardboard and plastic to see whether an egg in the center had withstood the fall.  "It's like a belated Christmas there," said Zoey's mom, Yvonne Zimmerman of Ashland. After more than a minute of careful unwrapping, Zoey beamed to find that her idea of surrounding an egg with cardboard carton pieces, bubble wrap and tape had protected it. "Mine survived," Zoey shouted to her mom.  The annual Egg Drop Challenge was just one of the ways kids and families rang in 2017 without staying up past their bedtimes at the fourth annual Noon Year's Eve Celebration, according the event's organizer, Rachel Cardillo of ScienceWorks. Another success story in the challenge belonged to 4-year-old Gracyn Campbell of Grants Pass, whose extensively bubble-wrapped package also survived the drop. Amanda Campbell, Gracyn's mom, said she did it by herself.  "She wouldn't let me help her," Amanda Campbell said. Amanda and her three other children worked on improving their egg-drop designs before taking their projects home to keep practicing. It was at least the third year the Campbells had celebrated at ScienceWorks, Amanda Campbell said. Cardillo said she hopes families will come to expect the community event from the hands-on museum. "It's nice for families to have a way to ring in the new year," Cardillo said. "It's a party for the community." Elsewhere at ScienceWorks, kids made sparkling-cider toasts and take-home crafts, such as noisemakers from wooden tongue depressors, paper and rubber bands, and rainmakers using dry black-eyed peas — considered good luck in the South, according to Cardillo. In the minutes before noon, children gathered below 1,000 balloons of various sizes, eagerly hoping to take home a big one after the countdown. Two-year-old Elena Canjura of Medford was one of the lucky kids, taking home a balloon just slightly bigger than herself. Elena shared it with 4-year-old Austin Flangas of Ashland, who enjoyed whirling it around just after the noon crowd dissipated. Though the balloon was larger than what most car trunks can accommodate, Johann Canjura, Elena's dad, said, "it'll fit." Elena's mom, Martha Canjura, said this is the second year they'd joined Austin and his dad, Arthur Flangas of Ashland, to ring in the new year. She said it might turn into a tradition for the kids. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.