New Year's Eve in Millbrook

MILLBROOK — Millbrook’s New Year’s Eve for families started at 4 p.m. Dec. 31, when the sun was still shining on the last day of the year. The festive event had simultaneous entertainment in the Thorne Building, Grace Church and Lyall Church, with a humorous, larger-than-life dragon and Father Time mingling in the crowd among the venues.

Organized by the Millbrook Rotary as a gift to the village, with support from the Millbrook business community and the Dyson Foundation, this was the seventh New Year’s Eve celebration and the largest ever. The entire inventory of 1,200 blinking 2011 buttons was sold out, and early estimates surmise that as many as 1,600 people attended at least one performance.

Familiar favorites like the Larry Ham Duo, the Bindlestiff Cirkus, Peter Muir, the flamenco guitar of Jeff Armstrong and the Handman Quartet returned as part of this Millbrook tradition. New faces and sounds were added to the mix. Mariachi Loco de NY provided Mexican music; witches and headless knights from the Puppet People delighted young audiences in the Lyall Church annex; and spirituals by the Six of Us filled Grace Church. Bindlestiff Cirkus changed its theme from last year’s cowboys to pirates and gave four performances at the Thorne Building. Inside the former blacksmith’s school, which is leased to the VFW Troop 9008, veterans sold hot dogs, donuts and hot chocolate.

The last party of the year was co-chaired by Joyce Heaton and Kate Hurley, and every member of the Millbrook Rotary served as a volunteer. The out-of-pocket cost alone for the evening’s events was well over $20,000, which was covered by grants, fundraising from local businesses and individual support.

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