Everyone's New Year's something different

It’s Dec. 31, and you are at home wondering how you’re going to spend the evening. If you’re young, you might be spending it with a babysitter while your parents are out, but if you’re a teenager or young adult, you are probably at a party with your friends eager to celebrate.

People end up spending the night in all kinds of ways.

Wasco resident Orquidea Ocampo said that since she has family visiting, she is going to stay at home with them.

Former Mayor Alex Garcia will be in a hospital, recuperating from a bout of pneumonia, but hopes to be released soon.

However, many parents stay in the safety of their own homes while struggling to stay awake until the midnight hour. New Year’s Eve is one holiday where most people feel the need to have some kind of celebration in acknowledgement of ridding oneself of the old and ushering in the new.

The New Year can be a mystery to all with its anticipated highs and lows. The question that should be asked is why do we celebrate it the way we do and how did the tradition of the New Year begin?

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As many plan on watching the ball drop in New York City’s Time Square inside a warm living room, others will be out celebrating with fine wine and a meal, yet still others would rather be attending a party with friends.

Many ponder how this tradition of watching the ball drop began. According to the Public Broadcasting Service, the New Year’s Eve festivities moved to the New York Times building in 1904 after previously taking place at Trinity Church in Manhattan. Spectators used to be able to hear the chiming of the bells signaling midnight; however, when the fireworks became a part of the tradition, this caused many to get burned by hot ashes that fell down on the streets from the display.

Since the New York Police Department banned fireworks, New York Times Publisher Adolph Ochs went to the Times chief electrician to create something different that would draw in the crowds, and what he created was the dropping of a timed ball so sailors could adjust their chronometers while at sea

Many partygoers sing “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight while others make resolutions. For many, the ending of the year can be bittersweet.

As people get older (and wiser), they choose to stay at home and watch others celebrate across the country. Until Dick Clark passed away, his was the most-watched New Year’s Eve program on television. The nation now has Ryan Seacrest, who took over for Clark upon Clark’s death, and Times Square celebration continues to this day.

New Year’s Eve brings promise of a bright future in anticipation of good things happening by making resolutions for a better year coming and leaving the negative to the previous year. Without that anticipation people would be at a standstill and everyone needs something to look forward to.

New Year’s Eve brings hopes of better romance, better business, better friends, better family dynamics and an all-around better future.