A New Year New Millennium; January 1, 2000; A Mini Bash Here; With Seattle's Grand Party Canceled, Celebrations Here Tended To Be Mini And Many- A Serenade To The New Millennium Sung In A Slightly Lower Key

What if the world threw a party, and Seattle didn't come?

The cancellation of the Seattle Center party let most of the air out of the Emerald City's celebratory mood, and while the rest of the universe whooped it up, well, we mostly watched it on TV. Ours was the city standing against the wall, waiting for somebody to ask us to dance. Nobody did.

Still, we tried. There were far more local events this New Year's Eve than any other in recent memory. From a $5,000-per-person dinner at a posh Seattle restaurant to a massive gathering of Christian teens in Redmond, some went out and celebrated, determined to ring in 2000 the right way. And the ways they found to do it were as varied as the region.

Fremont

The lights went out at the Center of the Universe Ball in Fremont. It was only for 10 minutes, sure, maybe 15 minutes right about 10 p.m. But for that time people froze. Y2K? Terrorists?

Joseph Jimenez de Jimenez and his wife, Caroline Messier, held on to champagne, for themselves and their friends, while a nearby couple necked in the dark. Jimenez and his wife plan to spend today talking about their plans for the new millennium. "Good health," said Jimenez. "I have kidney stones. I want those babies out."

Nobody was quite sure why the lights went out. "Somebody flipped the switch," said Helen Anne Gately.

"No one wants to say it's a breaker," said her friend, Jim Bundy.

Outside, perhaps the mood of the city was summed up by Fremont's famous "Waiting for the Interurban" stone figures, decked with balloons and holding Styrofoam letters that said, "Y Not OK."

Renton

About 150 teenagers wearing feathered boas, orange zebra stripes, dust masks, glow beads, tank tops, nose piercings, nipple rings, tongue studs and light-up visors descended on a strip-mall bingo hall in Renton for the Plurple rave.

The building was filled with 15 to 21 year olds from Tacoma to Everett, swinging glow sticks, chewing on glow sticks and waving glow sticks to the throb of DJ-spun electronica.

"There are a lot of hot guys," said Bridget Geraghty, 17, from Mercer Island.

"My New Year's resolution is to find a really hot guy who's faithful and won't cheat on me."

Ballard

At the Ballard Eagles, the calypso-reggae band "Andy-O" played to an utterly empty dance floor.

Mike Lagervall, owner of the downtown Fenix Club, which sponsored the event, expected a big crowd, but only a handful showed up.

"There's just nobody out." Lagervall said. "The mayor has put the fear into everybody."

Canlis restaurant

At Canlis, one of Seattle's best-known restaurants, 100 guests paid $5,000 each to sample the cuisine, music, dance and culture from each of the last 10 centuries.

The 11th century was depicted by an ice sculpture of a Viking ship laden with caviar, surrounded by shrimp and smoked salmon, with a rough group of Viking soldiers milling through the formally attired crowd.

Co-owner Chris Canlis announced the event raised $505,000 for charity.

"It's warm and it's worldly," said Cher Maillot of Seattle. "It's global and cosmic."

Last Call Millennium Ball

The cavernous stadium exhibition center near Safeco Field was transformed into a New Orleans-flavored fantasy land.

While several thousand people attended, it was far from the capacity of 15,000.

Chris Isaak swung into a rockin' version of "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight.

"Everything you've done in the past year has been forgiven," Isaak said. "And that goes on until noon tomorrow."

Central District

For their extended family, T.J. and Mindy Milton's modest Central District home is what Karen Murphy calls "the family gathering hut."

"Every family has a house where everyone gets together," says Murphy, who is engaged to Mindy Milton's brother. "And for this family this house is it."

Last night, on the eve of the new millennium, the Miltons and their friends gathered there again.

"It feels like any other New Year's Eve," Murphy said. "I'm hanging out with my buddies in my bathrobe eating a cheese log."

Kerry Park

Champagne corks blew minutes early on Queen Anne Hill as flashbulbs popped, boomboxes pulsed and somebody dressed as the Easter Bunny roamed the crowd at Kerry Park. When the Space Needle fireworks went off at midnight, the crowd exploded in shouts and hugs.

"It didn't look hopeful at first," said Joel George, who watched the Space Needle fireworks display from Kerry Park. "But now that the time is here, it's good, it's all good."

Queen Anne Masonic Temple

Neighbors on Queen Anne Hill got calls from Deborah Moffit, who had a vision: If she gave a New Year's Eve party, they would come.

"We're the only city in the world that's not having a New Year's party. The Grinch stole it. It just pissed me off," she said.

She rented the Queen Anne Masonic Temple and decorated it with balloons and streamers. People brought potluck food, and the party was on.

"Everybody was huddled at home," said Moffit. "I decided this is about community."

Four Seasons Olympic Hotel

Junior Cadillac played up until 10 seconds before midnight at the downtown Four Seasons Olympic, when the revelers stopped to watch the Space Needle fireworks on TV.

But by far the biggest applause of the evening went to 101-year-old Mabel Clinkingbeard, who sat through the evening watching her son Les Clinkingbeard play tenor saxophone with Junior Cadillac.

"This feels wonderful," she said about living in three centuries, "but I never think about years or time. I just live life."

Pioneer Square

While it fell short of the hit Pioneer Square club owners hoped for, New Year's Eve was hardly a dud.

The swanky Last Supper Club was filling to near capacity as 2000 approached. The sidewalks were full of watchful police and partyers going from one club to another.

What would happen on Y2K Eve?

"Absolutely nothing - but fun," said Michaelle Wilson, 21, of Milton.

Tacoma

There were fire jugglers, country singers and a Mardi Gras-style parade through downtown. But the crowds from Seattle never came.

Tacoma Mayor Brian Ebersole invited Seattleites to attend the Tacoma-Pierce County First Night Festival after New Year's Eve events at Seattle Center were canceled.

But attendance was the same or even slightly less than the normal crowd of about 10,000 to 15,000.

"This is probably the normal Tacoma crowd," said police Sgt. Ross Mueller.

Overlake Christian Church

At Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, about 900 young people "rang in the new year with Jesus" at an event that was part rock show, part end-times drama, and a lot of oldtime revival.

"Let's not give up on the 21st century," the Rev. Troy Jones told the teens who came from Assembly of God churches all over Western Washington.

"In no way do we really believe the world is going to come to an end tomorrow," said Jones. "But at any moment now, we want you to know the clouds will part and Jesus Christ will return for his church.