imported post
I have a very loud wooden 'clacker' noisemaker to spin over my head on New Years.It is safer than upward-directed gunfire, and nearly as loud.It is a copy of what the military used for gas attack alarmsback in WWI. Actually the same type of gizmo was used to direct troop movements as far back as the Civil War.
People beg me to bring it along on New Years Eve, and beg me NOT to bring it along any other time.