Jefferson City will be awash with New Year's Eve parties Saturday night.
Music of virtually every genre. Food from a galaxy of cuisines. Venues from hip on High Street to hardwood at Helias High School. Libations from sparkling cider midnight toasts at the Sk8 Zone to unlimited measures of the customer's choice at Spectators.
The end-of-the-year fun may well begin the eve before New Year's Eve at the Trivia Night fundraiser for Scene One Theatre at Avenue HQ, 621 E. Capitol Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the trivia begins to fly at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $160 per table for up to eight people. Pizza, snacks, soda and water will be provided; everything else is up to the patrons.
Twenty-four hours later, Spectators Sports Bar and Grill, 232 E. High St., will feature the rocking playlist of Disengaged and again will offer the VIP in the Loft attraction - a maximum of 50 guests at a fixed price, feted with all the food and drink they can consume. Owner Scott Drinkard, who conceived the Safe Ride Home program last New Year's Eve, will again assure customers they get a taxi from Spectators' front door to the patron's front door.
Drinkard noted Jefferson City remains a big New Year's Eve party town, although people are reveling at home and every conceivable location. "They may not come downtown to bars like they used to, but we'll still have a big crowd here," Drinkard said.
Capt. Doug Shoemaker of the Jefferson City Police Department said his officers would be vigilant for those abusing alcoholic beverages over the New Year's holiday.
"As part of the holiday DWI campaign that started prior to Christmas and ends on Jan. 1, we are continuing that effort, which of course will be most concentrated on New Year's Eve," Shoemaker said. "Our officers will work extra shifts as part of our partnerships with the Missouri Department of Transportation Traffic and Highway Safety Division and the Missouri Safety Center. We say this every year, but ideally we'd like to go the whole night of New Year's Eve without a single DWI arrest due to people making good choices - not drinking and driving, or if they drink designating a sober driver or calling for a ride from a sober friend or a cab."
Back to the New Year's Eve celebrations.
Helias High School is hosting its sixth annual Mid-America Youth Basketball New Year's Jam, at its Rackers Fieldhouse, and also at Blair Oaks School and Trinity Lutheran School. The first games begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the championship game should tip off around 5 p.m. Sunday. The tournament is for youth in third through eighth grades.
The Baymont Inn is offering a New Year's Eve package, featuring dinner and entertainment at Prison Brews and including an overnight stay, plus breakfast and late checkout. Prison Brews, at 305 Ash St., also will gladly host those not on the Baymont plan. The Joe Lewis Band will play at the restaurant from 7 a.m.-midnight, capping the evening with champagne for all.
For those hooked on tunes of the 1980s, The Mission, 915 E. High St., is hosting a New Year's Eve '80s Party, beginning at 9 p.m., and featuring Burnin' Down the House, a Mid-Missouri '80s pop cover band.
Helen Russell and Company will provide the music to complement a buffet meal, finger foods, party favors, midnight toast and balloon drop at the Capital Ritz, 2716 Plaza Drive. The New Year's Eve Dinner and Dance is 6 p.m.-1 a.m.
The Starlight Memories Band will headline a New Year's Eve Dance at the American Legion Post No. 5, 1423 Tanner Bridge Road, featuring a share-a-snack plan. Doors open at 7 p.m. with music rolling 8 p.m.-midnight.
And Sk8 Zone, 301 Flora Drive, will have the wheels spinning 7 p.m.-1 a.m., offering a full array of New Year's Eve attractions, including a balloon drop and sparkling cider toast.