Jo Annette Cynkar, manager of the Harmony Museum Gift Shop, right, performs the German tradition called “Bleigiessen,” a German lead drop fortune-telling, during the Harmony Silvester New Year's Eve event on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008. Butler Eagle File Photo

Harmony celebrated its first Silvester celebration on Dec. 31, 2008, ringing in the new year on German time — six hours earlier than Eastern Standard Time.

The event included Silvester mainstays, including the 5K race that kicks off the event to this day, and the ball drop at 6 p.m.

In the Wagner House garden, visitors took part in Bleigiessen, another German tradition. Small chunks of lead were melted on a spoon over a candle, which was then poured from the spoon into a bucket of cold water, where it quickly hardened. Participants tried to determine what shape the lead transformed into, to give them a glimpse into their potential fortune for the new year.