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Published on 12/21/1998 All articles from this issue

Los Altos, get ready - millennium party plans progress

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By Paul Nyberg

Publisher's Perspective

A year ago, we proposed a special Los Altos Millennium Eve commemoration on Dec. 31, 1999. The suggestion was to offer families and friends of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents a whiz-bang affair as an alternative to flying off to Paris or cruising the Panama Canal with a bunch of strangers. In short, create a hometown event to remember.

The first response to the idea a year ago came from a handful of calendar purists who called or wrote to point out that the new millennium does not begin Jan. 1, 2000, but a year later. Therefore, Dec. 31, 1999, is not Millennium Eve, they argue, it is really just 2000 eve. However, we, like the rest of the world, are not going to wait.

The second response to the idea came late last January when about 30 people began meeting regularly to form an ad hoc committee to study the feasibility of staging such an event. Now, 11 months later, the event is taking shape.

At this point we are aware of no other Peninsula cities or communities planning a Millennium Eve event. But not so in other parts of the world.

Here are some samples:

An estimated 2 billion people living in Christian calendar countries are expected to celebrate the millennium making it the largest celebration in history.

The former prime minister of England, John Major, had the foresight to set up a millennium commission. This group is building a Millennium Dome in Greenwich straddling the prime meridian at a cost of $200 million. The historic edifice, dubbed a 21st century Stonehenge, will officially open Dec. 31, 1999, to an expected audience of 35,000, including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and Tony Blair.

The biggest concert and party ever held on Earth, called Party 2000, is planned in Southern California near Palm Springs. With a budget of $1.1 billion, the party planners expect 2.5 million people to attend the three-day event. Tickets are $600 until June 30, 1999, and $850 after that date. No one has explained where people will park.

Times Square 2000: more of the same except that the 6-foot diameter aluminum ball will be equipped with 144 glitter strobe lights, 180 halogen lights and will be laser-lit from the outside as it begins its descent one minute to midnight.

Can you celebrate the millennium more than once? Yes, by flying to Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Fiji or Tokyo for the first night and then to Hawaii or the U.S. mainland for the second night. Problem is, many airlines are still unsure about flying on this momentous night because of possible computer problems - the Y2K factor. In any case, we can celebrate a second millennium Dec. 31, 2000, right here in Los Altos if the calendar guys are right about when it starts.

Meanwhile, the Los Altos Millennium Executive Committee has made much progress.

A full-time executive director for the event has been engaged by the committee. Gunilla Cook, a 32-year Los Altos resident and party planner began work Nov. 1.

To handle the fund raising and finances of the event, the Los Altos Cultural Association has been incorporated as a nonprofit entity. A 501(c)(3) status is pending.

A preliminary $25,000 grant as seed money has been provided by the Packard Foundation to the association to fund start-up costs.

Rick Herns Productions, an event-organizing company that has managed the Palo Alto Black and White Ball for the last 10 years, has been engaged to handle logistics, caterers, headliner entertainment and tents for the committee. Herns will be planning the extravaganza for midnight.

Three separate dinner venues at a range of prices are being planned, included a spiffy black-tie dinner with a headliner dance band.

Good food, music, dancing, historical displays, and other surprises are in the offing. Community agencies and organizations, schools, churches and volunteer groups are encouraged to participate to add to the hometown atmosphere.

A 100-year time capsule is under consideration. It is intended to be a vehicle to send messages to our children's children. Contents will be selected and provided by Los Altos residents and are expected to include everyday objects, art, keepsakes, pictures, documents, or new messages written to the people of 2100.

Finally, the event is intended to raise money for a permanent Los Altos legacy, a reminder to future generations of today's residents' concern for community, culture and education.

Tickets for the Los Altos Millennium Eve event will go on sale in early spring, 1999. Local families need make no other plans.

-Paul Nyberg, Publisher