BIG PARTY WILL BRING IN 2000; GALA FOR 1,000 SET AT SHOW ME CENTER

You can't usher in the new millennium without a grand party, and Cape Girardeau businesswoman Judy Wilferth is helping to plan a New Year's Eve party that will be just that.

Even though the new millennium doesn't start until 2001, Wilferth and friends are preparing to celebrate on Dec. 31 with a party at the Show Me Center that is expected to cost more than $100,000.

It will feature dinner, dancing, musical entertainment from two bands, champagne, party favors, a millennium breakfast and indoor fireworks.

Music will be provided by the Jerry Ford Orchestra, a local group that plays Swing music; and Atlantic Express, a rock dance band from Kansas City.

Organizers plan to show televised celebrations on a large video screen as the new year is ushered in around the world.

The party will be limited to about 1,000 people. The price tag to attend is $100 per person.

But Wilferth and Cape Girardeau City Councilman Melvin Gateley said it is well worth the cost to ring in a new century. Gateley said $200 a couple seems reasonable for such an event.

Wilferth said even at that price the celebration won't break even without corporate sponsors. Organizers hope to get corporations to pay some of the costs.

Announcements of the party will be mailed soon to members of area civic and social organizations. Details also can be obtained by calling the Show Me Center at (573) 651-2297.

The event is being called the Y2K Eve Party, a reference to the computer bug that could surface when 2000 rolls around.

Wilferth said plans for the party are being made by a committee of about 20 people. Gateley said the committee has been meeting for about six months.

Wilferth said she and some friends started discussing the party a couple of years ago. She said they wanted to celebrate the historic occasion with their families and friends in Cape Girardeau.

The party is expected to be the largest in Cape Girardeau. "It is for the whole community," she said.

David Ross, who manages the Show Me Center, has helped plan the party. He said the party is limited to about 1,000 people for space reasons.

In addition to the guests, the 32,000-square-foot arena floor will be filled with two stages, a large dance floor, buffet lines and cocktail and waiter stations.

Everything from stages to the pyrotechnics will cost more than usual on that date, Ross said. "Everything we have been quoted has been four times the cost," he said.

Food and beverage costs won't be cheap either. Waiters and other catering personnel will be difficult to secure even for the university's food service contractor, Ross said.

"I think it is going to be terribly hard to come up with people willing to work," he said.

Ross said many New Year's Eve events around the world already are booked up. "You can't get a seat on a cruise line. You can't go to Jerusalem for the new millennium," he said.

Ross said the Show Me Center will be decorated for the big party.

The 11-piece Jerry Ford Orchestra plays music from the 1940s and the 1990s. Atlantic Express plays music from the 1970s and 1980s. "They are extremely good," said Ross.

"The fireworks won't be like the large bursts seen in outdoor displays. The fireworks will resemble those used at rock concerts.

"We are looking at some ways to jazz up and surprise the folks there," he said.

"It is going to be a real good time," said Ross. "I really expect it to be as good a production as anything we've done."