Some Souls of Sobriety Do-Si-Do Into the New Year

Revelers rang in 1989 in celebrations ranging from the neon-lit Times Square in New York City to small square-dance halls in Indiana and a mountaintop in Colorado, some with champagne glasses, others promoting abstinence.

The lowering of a ball in crowded Times Square marked a return to tradition in Manhattan after seven years of a falling apple.

Assistant Police Chief Thomas Walsh said 2,300 police officers were on duty there, and Sgt. Maurice Howard said many of the officers in civilian clothes were on the lookout for pickpockets.

Midnight celebrations included fireworks in Central Park and over the East River, a 5-mile race for 4,000 runners by starlight, and a newly designed illumination flooding the Empire State Building in a salute to the 100th birthday of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

First Night Celebrations

Fireworks displays also were part of the evening in many other cities across the country, including Albany, N.Y.; Ft. Worth; New Bedford, Mass., and Boston. Many displays were part of traditional First Night celebrations planned in 24 cities--an effort to create a family oriented festival of the arts.

Newcomers to First Night, which began in Boston in 1976, included Athens, Ga.; Denver; Edmonton, Alberta; Montclair, N.J., and Newburyport, Mass. In most cases, officials banned the sale or consumption of liquor.

“It’s so good to see all of the people caught up in the activities without getting loaded,” said Susan Wolfgang, an organizer in New Bedford.

The Boston celebration was a 10-hour extravaganza, featuring music, dance, mime, theater, film and ice sculptures, ending with fireworks over Boston Harbor.

Dancin’ the Night Away

In Martinsville, Ind., three square-dance clubs were to do-si-do until 1 a.m. in the 4-H Building at the Morgan County Fairgrounds. Betty Conover, president of the Flagtown Steppers, said about 200 people were expected. No alcohol was served.

“Square dancers do not drink and dance. You can’t drink and listen to the caller,” Conover said.

Members of the AdAmAn Club of Colorado Springs, Colo., chose a more solitary setting to toast 1989. They were to light a fireworks display from the top of Pikes Peak, elevation 14,100 feet.

The group’s 66th annual trek was scheduled to culminate at midnight with 60 giant star bursts over the snowcapped peak, where temperatures dip below zero.

Police across the nation were on the lookout for drunk drivers. The National Safety Council predicted between 350 and 450 people would die and at least 16,000 others would be seriously injured on the nation’s highways during the weekend.

In Chicago, disc jockey Wolfman Jack hosted the “ultimate ‘50s and ‘60s New Year’s party” at the Holiday Inn O’Hare, while revelers at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel sought a world record for the most balloons dropped at a New Year’s celebration--40,000, hotel spokesman Melanie Hixon said.

Doing It on Their Own Time

The 180 retirees who live at the Washington and Jane Smith Home decided to get the jump on the rest of the country by celebrating the new year with a party on Greenland time, where 1989 arrives at 10 p.m. CST, just about bedtime at the home.

“This early-to-bed celebration is a long tradition at the home,” said Gary T. Johanson, home administrator. “We sing a little, laugh a lot and offer a glogg toast to the many happy years to come.” Glogg is a hot punch toddy.

Celebration plans for Houston included a six-story laser image of Father Time growing smaller as it scales the building at midnight, setting off Roman candles and shrinking into a “Baby New Year” who floats back down using his top hat as a parachute.