All is quiet on New Year?s Day

    Just one more day remains of the year 2010. Local residents have taken the opportunity to reflect on the year that was, and to forecast events in the year that will be. Some residents will stay up late Friday to ring in the New Year, while others will treat it just like any other day.

    Paul Reynolds and his wife Jo said they may go to the New Year?s Eve church service at Fern Cliff Evangelical Free Church. Paul said New Year?s Eve ?parties? are a thing of the past for him, while Jo said she never went to such things.

    In his youth, Paul went to house parties on New Year?s Eve usually hosted by a member of his church.

    ?I got home the next morning at about 4 a.m. even though I had to go to work later that day,? said Paul. ?At that time, I worked at my dad?s service station.?

    Jo said the two of them will probably stay up to watch the ball drop at Times Square in New York City. She?s worried about the health of long-time emcee Dick Clark, who she said had a hard time speaking at last year?s event. Last week, a blizzard swept across the northeastern United States, complicating the preparations for the New Year?s celebration.

    The Reynoldses are not fans of New Year?s resolutions.

    ?I never do them,? said Jo.

    ?I have one,? said Paul. ?It?s not to make any more resolutions.?

    Jo remarked that she can?t think of a resolution for herself in part because she hasn?t fallen victim to the typical vices that many people swear off.

    ?I never smoked and I never drank,? she said.

    ?And I quit smoking a long time ago,? said her husband.

    Jo said 2011 promises to be an exciting year. She is signed up to attend every performance at ?Circa ?21 Dinner Playhouse? in Rock Island, Ill.

    ?Once a month, we take a bus there,? she said. ?The food is really good. In December, they performed ?Forever Plaid.? Boy, it was good.?

    Paul said he doesn?t travel much anymore, other than the occasional trip to Iowa City or Cedar Rapids.

    His wife remarked, ?He gets bored, so he wants to go someplace.? 

    Hugh and Louise Dougall are confident the New Year will be there when they wake up on Saturday, so they don?t need to stay up Friday to ring it in.

    Hugh commented, ?I?ll probably watch the 10 o?clock news and then go to bed. I haven?t stayed up until midnight for the last few years. I?m a real partier.?

    Hugh went to house parties in his younger days, but he said those days are gone.

    Louise remarked, ?Do you notice how everyone talks about what they did ?in their younger days???  

    The Dougalls used to watch musical performances and dance numbers on television on New Year?s Eve. 

    ?They used to show some good music from New York,? said Hugh. ?I don?t think they have that anymore. Now they have that ?80s stuff and I don?t like that.?

    Louise doesn?t do New Year?s resolutions, and stated that New Year?s was ?just another day.? Hugh has made resolutions in the past, but they proved hard to keep.

    ?I smoked for years,? he said. ?I always made a resolution to quit, and I always broke it. I lasted maybe a day or two, and sometimes it wasn?t even that long.?

    One of Hugh?s notable accomplishments in 2010 was that he installed a metal roof on his house. For next year, the Dougalls are looking forward to spending a week in Florida during the fall.

    ?Our son and his wife have a time-share there,? said Hugh. ?They take grandma and grandpa down with them. We used to go twice a year. Now that the granddaughters are in school, the parents don?t like to take them out as much. They miss 7 ½ days of school when they go.?

For more, see our Dec. 30 print edition.