PLANNERS OPTIMISTIC ABOYT Y2K EVE BASH

Almost half of the 1,000 tickets for the gala Y2K Eve Party at the Show Me Center have been reserved and 15 corporate sponsors have signed on.

While there's still a lot of work to do, members of the Y2K Eve Committee, which is planning the Dec. 31 party, are optimistic it will be a success, said David Ross, a committee member and director of the Show Me Center. He said reports at a committee meeting held Tuesday showed preparations are on target.

"Our goal was to have 400 tickets sold by the first of October and we met that," Ross said, noting that as of Tuesday about 450 tickets had been reserved. "Now we need the numbers to increase each month."

Tickets to the party are $100 per person and about 1,000 will be sold.

"We think there are still a lot of people planning to come," Ross said.

If people can't do their first choice for welcoming in the new millennium, whether that be seeing the pyramids, going to Disney World or taking a cruise, Ross hopes they'll use the Y2K Eve Party as their second choice.

And people might even have a better time at the local event because they'll be celebrating with people they know.

"With 1,000 people, you'd expect to see people you know," Ross said. "And that's really what we want, a large party of people who know each other all ringing in the new year."

Jackie Clark-Otto, one of the chairmen of the party's food committee, echoed that sentiment.

"It's a party for people who want to be around friends and family when the clock turns," Clark-Otto said.

She said the party is turning into a cross-generational affair.

"A lot of people have told me they are bringing their teen-age or college-age children and their grandparents," said Clark-Otto, who said the party's music and activities should appeal to a broad range of ages.

Two bands will alternate sets at the party so there will be continuous music, Ross said. Atlantic Express from Kansas City plays Motown sound and rock music from the 1960s, '70s and '80s. The Jerry Ford Orchestra from Cape Girardeau plays swing and dance music of the '30s, '40s and '50s.

There also will be a dinner. Clark-Otto said the menu is still being finalized but the entrees should be Florentine chicken and beef tenderloin. Desserts will include chocolate bourbon pecan pie, bread pudding with praline sauce and coffee brandy mousse.

The $100-per-person admission also will include two drink tickets, a bottle of champagne for each table of eight, breakfast, souvenir program, souvenir champagne glass and party favors. There will be a video system running coverage of millennium celebrations from other areas of the world and an indoor fireworks display.

Helping to cover the expected $100,000 cost of the party, the committee has been seeking corporate sponsors. There are now 15. They are Southeast Missourian, Children's Bazaar, Tipton Linen Service, Bluff City Beer, Ameren UE, River Eagle Distributing, Kohlfeld Distributing, Horizon Screen Print, Dr. Charles Cozean, Wood & Huston Bank, Dr. Kenneth Dobbins, Pyramid Health Care, JCS/Tel Link, Kelley Transportation and Schnuck's Food and Drug.

The Y2K Eve Party is open to the public, Ross emphasized. For tickets, call the Show Me Center box office at 651-5000.