Assortment of events will mark new year

On Monday night, New Year's Eve revelers in Cape Girardeau can dance to a band called Funky Donkey Cheese or pray the new year in with members of the United Pentecostal Church.

For those who can't wait until New Year's Eve, the Christian-oriented youth center Freedom Rock will celebrate the dawn of the new year at 10:30 p.m. today. "We're going to do a time-warp deal," said the Rev. Carol Heitman, interim youth pastor.

The center, sponsored by the Assembly of God Church, is open only on Friday nights. The New Year's Eve celebration will be complete with a ball drop and balloon so that teen-agers can spend the real New Year's Eve with their families, Heitman said.

She said the ball drop must occur before midnight so the teens can observe the city's curfew. Curfew for youths under 17 is midnight on Friday and Saturday, and 11 p.m. all other nights.

The horn band Funky Donkey Cheese will team up with the Acme Blues Band to provide a variety of music for a New Year's Eve party at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. Party-only tickets are available. The motel also is offering a party and lodging package that includes breakfast for two.

Cape Rock Drive and Papa Aborigine, two Cape Girardeau bands with large followings and shared members, will combine in an evening of music at the River City Yacht Club.

The venerable Cape Girardeau band The Runaways is playing at the Drury Lodge party, which is available as a lodging package. The motel's Pete Poe says people seem to be in as much a mood to have a party as any other year. "We will be sold out. We have just a few tickets left," he said.

The popular duo of Mike Dumey and Robyn Hosp will perform at the Route 25 Banquet Hall during an evening that will offer karaoke singing, dancing, a prime rib buffet and champagne toast.

The Jackson Knights of Columbus party is always popular. Admission covers hors d'oeuvres, drinks and favors. A sound system provides the music.

The Executive Inn in Paducah, Ky., is offering a Honky Tonk Tailgate Party New Year's Eve featuring country stars Rhett Akins, Daryle Singletary and Wade Hayes.

The atmosphere will be a bit different at the Osage Community Centre Monday night, where United Pentecostal churches in the area are sponsoring a Watch Night service.

The Rev. Doyle Randol of Faith Tabernacle United Pentecostal Church in Cape Girardeau says the group service got started in 1999 because of the interest in Y2K and the beginning of the new millennium. "It's a celebration, an ending of the old year and bringing in of the new."

There will be two services and two speakers from St. Louis, the Rev. Gary Randol and the Rev. Donnie Sheerin.

All of the church services have had special significance since the events of Sept. 11, Doyle Randol said, and this one will too.

"The terrorism that is going on in our land today is a sign of the approaching end time, the coming of the Lord," he said. "We all need to get closer to God."

Marilyn Brown, wife of Calvary United Pentecostal Church pastor Ronnie Brown in Jackson, said a puppet show will be provided for children. Services will begin at 8 p.m. Midnight will be marked by a prayer.

"Usually people are rededicating their lives to serve God in a stronger manner next year," she said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182