It is time to “flea” the old year and hop right in to 2011.
On an entomological note, the town of Eastover, NC (formerly known as “Flea Hill) celebrated the new year by dropping a 3 foot tall, 30 pound flea at midnight.
According to locals, the town was originally named Flea Hill because the soil and climate were conducive to large flea populations.
Animals would get under the church. Consequently, the church got infested with fleas. It became almost unbearable. The preacher would open the Bible with one hand and scratch fleas with the other.
Improvements in flea control rid the town of the worst of the problems so they started from ‘scratch’ with a the new name of Eastover in the 1920s although parts of the area retain the historic name of Flea Hill.
Nothing like an insect mascot to bring in a crowd and start the New Year ‘Hopping’.
The Eastover Flea
Photo: WRAL
