RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

No sooner is Christmas over than New Year's Eve waits around the corner.

Locally, there are many parties at motel banquet rooms, Knights of Columbus halls, civic clubs and bars. And here are a few untraditional ways to spend New Year's Eve:

-- The New Year's Eve party aboard the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railway will feature both a party and a murder -- a murder mystery performed by the Steiger Haus Players from Ste. Genevieve.

The engineer will stop the train for an official countdown to 1997.

The train leaves the Jackson depot at 8:30 p.m. Reservations are required.

-- In St. Louis, the percussion-movement show called STOMP will be presented at the Fox Theatre twice New Year's Eve and again New Year's Day. STOMP played to near-capacity crowds at the Fox Theatre in April.

STOMP uses everything but conventional percussion instruments -- garbage cans, plastic bags, boots, hub caps and more to create a blend of dance, theater and music.

Shows are at 6 and 10 p.m. Tuesday and at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Those who attend the 10 p.m. show New Year's Eve also are invited to a party afterward in the Fox's Grand Lobby.

-- Some people will be holding a pre-New Year's Eve celebration when the University High Basket Ball tournament concludes Monday night at the Show Me Center. The first game begins at 4 p.m. and the last game at 8:30 p.m.