Ninth annual Good Riddance Day tears up Times Square

TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- More than 100 Times Square visitors deposited bad memories in a portable shredder Monday to prepare for 2016 as workers build stages to prepare for Thursday's end-of-year festivities.

The ninth annual "Good Riddance Day" enabled people to symbolically toss away their worst fears, with the shredded paper to be used as confetti when ringing in the New Year. The event aims to get rid of negativity from the past year, as well as give the new year a fresh start.

Good Riddance Day also included a contest where the winner, Maureen Dexter of Wenatchee, Washington, became the first to shred her memory and kick off the event.

She shredded pictures of herself before she lost 75 pounds.

While some people got rid of documents, others smashed such items as a laptop and a pill bottle.

Additionally, people were encouraged to write wishes for the new year on confetti to be dropped over crowds at midnight Thursday.

Those making deposits in the "New Year's Eve Wishing Well" varied widely in their desires. Some sought love, others fortune and some world peace.