From Bootstraps to Boot Drop

After NAU, Werking joined the Arizona Sundogs Hockey Club organization in Prescott Valley, managing corporate sponsorships, events and arena promotions designed to elevate the fan experience. “Those years unknowingly became my entrepreneurial incubator,” she said. “I had the opportunity to lead multiple aspects of the hockey club and generate promotional ideas to bring people together, not just for hockey, but to create an atmosphere in which the community would proudly gather.”

When the team was sold during the Great Recession, Werking, then a young mother, launched DW Consulting in late 2009, later transitioning into Prescott’s first social media and digital marketing agency, Northern AZ Social. 

In November 2010, Werking says her client, Tracey Horn, was courting a relationship with the City of Prescott’s Tourism Department. They discussed a need to increase bed tax dollars during the slower winter months. Werking and Horn casually floated the idea of a New Year’s Eve celebration. Although the city didn’t have a NYE celebration in its marketing plan, the tourism group expressed support for organizers who were bringing new events to the area. 

“That little bit of encouragement and a lot of time on my hands was all I needed,” said Werking. “I wanted to create something that would fill the event gap and serve our small businesses, but more than that – leave a legacy behind with a new event tradition.”

Armed with experience from sports marketing and event planning, Werking began sketching out plans for a New Year’s countdown celebration in her spare time. “I researched what other cities dropped on New Year’s Eve,” she said. “Key West dropped a drag queen in a high heel shoe, Atlanta had a peach, but no one had ever dropped a boot. It just felt right for Prescott – the cowboy boot represents our Western heritage.”

She modified an old sponsorship proposal from her Sundogs days and shared the proposal with her client, Horn. Werking says it was met with indifference, but she continued to work on the concept for months. She created the first mockup website in early 2011, to better share her vision. In May 2011, Horn invited Werking to meet with radio executives Patrick Gallagher and Patti Ezel of Magic 99.1 FM. “To my surprise, the meeting was to discuss the New Year’s Eve event I had been working on since November,” Werking said.

Shortly after, cofounders Werking and Horn, along with Gallagher and Ezel, formed the first New Year’s Eve Boot Drop committee. With no guarantee of success or profitability, their goal was simple: to bring the first-ever New Year’s Eve celebration to downtown Prescott.

Werking continued her efforts through the next six months as a bare-bones operation. She collected signatures from Whiskey Row businesses, managed traffic plans, budgeting, sponsorships, signing contracts and negotiating trade deals, ordering promotional giveaways, organizing trash and sanitation, securing the use of the Courthouse Plaza with the Prescott Downtown Partnership, creating infrastructure maps, orchestrating meetings and more, all while pregnant with her first son.

Horn secured a non-profit to manage the sponsorship dollars raised under a 501(c)3, aided sponsorships, managed marketing obligations and partnered with Morgan Signs to create the design of the boot. Gallagher worked the public relations circuit and Ezel raised sponsorship dollars and secured the talent. The first-year committee raised about $21,000 in sponsorship sales and trades, just enough to cover the costs of the first New Year’s Eve Boot Drop. 

On Dec. 31, 2011, Werking remained hands-on throughout the execution while seven months pregnant. “We had no idea how the event would turn out, but we were determined to see it through. It was a risky endeavor on a shoestring budget.”

Werking’s family and friends stepped in to help with infrastructure. Her husband donated equipment for the Prescott Area Young Professionals vendor booth, while community volunteers helped transform downtown Prescott’s Whiskey Row into a festive venue.

At midnight, the six-foot illuminated cowboy boot, crafted by Morgan Signs, was lowered from a 40-foot flagpole. More than 2,000 people filled Whiskey Row and counted down to the New Year in the glow of the giant boot. “Seeing the crowd gather that night made it all worth my time,” she said. 

Six weeks later, Werking gave birth to her son on Valentine’s Day. She moved behind the scenes to manage the digital presence to focus on her growing family. She remained heavily involved with the Boot Drop until 2021, as the event grew from a fledgling community effort into a signature Northern Arizona attraction. Werking invested her own time, skillset and money into the event to ensure its continued success. 

Despite unexpected challenges through the years – such as a city stage malfunction that forced a quick improvisation using the sound technician Ted Leonard’s box truck as a stage, or the 2018 snowstorm that nearly shut the event down – the Whiskey Row New Year’s Eve Boot Drop stands as a hallmark of Prescott’s holiday season.

“Today, I bring friends and family members to the Boot Drop now to enjoy what started as an ambitious dream,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have my kids experience it – my daughter, now 25, and my son, now 13. My friends and family were behind me on this venture from the beginning, and now we share this experience together as attendees.”

Reflecting on its legacy, Werking says she is proud of the efforts of Matt Brassard, event organizer for more than a decade. The celebration now features live bands, food trucks, carnival rides and two drops capped with fireworks.

“It’s incredible to see how the Boot Drop has grown and how much our city embraces it as a signature event,” she said. Through the years, the Boot Drop has had many nonprofit supporters – the Prescott Chamber, Fraternal Order of the Eagles, Prescott Area Independents (PAI), M & M Entertainment, and now Arizona’s Christmas City under Whiskey Row Boot Drop, LLC. 

“For everyone who believed in the vision and dedicated their time, our efforts have truly paid off. I hope to see our event around for many more years to come,” Werking said. “It started as a simple idea, but it became something lasting – one that continues to light up Prescott each New Year’s Eve. I have archived the original documents, emails and original meeting notes from its inception. In 30 years from now, if the event still lives, I hope to look back on this little part of Prescott history to reminisce upon its origin.” QCBN

By QCBN Staff

Photo courtesy of Blushing Cactus Photography: With the glowing cowboy boot suspended in the darkness, thousands of revelers enjoy the annual New Year’s Eve tradition in downtown Prescott.