New years eve party

There is something special about New Years Eve and I think most people feel like they ought to do at least something to celebrate. For young single people the Tempe Block Party can be very attractive. I went there a couple of years ago and felt "very old and very straight". So what about the rest of us? For most of us there are three obstacles to a "standard" New Years Eve night on the town. First "What do you do with the kids?" Even if you want leave them, babysitters, can be hard to find. Second, alot of the New Years Packages can be pretty expensive. Last, for many people who don't normally drink, New Years Eve becomes "Amateur Night".

This was the genesis of "The Mayor's New Years Eve Party". I wanted to have a New Years Eve community event that is safe, clean, inexpensive and family oriented. That is exactly what we have. Each year we rent Gilbert High, decorate it and have a party. Actually we have three parties. We turn a couple of class rooms and a corridor into a child care center. We have liscensed day care professional's take care of the little one's. We turn another part of the school into an activity center for "tweeners", kids between five or six and about thirteen. We have a High School Dance for the teen agers. In the cafeteria area we have party for the rest of us. There is non stop music ranging from 50's rock and roll and an Elvis Impersanator to Western Music, and a little bit of everything else in between.

The cost for this evening of excitment and pagentry, Five dollars per family. We define a family as at least one adult and as many children as you can squeeze in your car. One of the great bonuses is that the entire event is paid for by sponsorships and admissions and no tax dollars are used to put our party on. Last year the party was so successful that after all expenses we were able to donate $7,400 to our Firefighters "Gilbert Emergency Relief Fund", which made this party the single largest fund raiser GERF has ever.

I hope you can attend it this year.