Year In Business Was Full Of Promise

Abduction Attempt Reported

By MARK E. JONES; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, December 27, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE- In a nod to the New Year's premise of "out with the old,"
Mayor Thomas McGroarty said the city's welcoming ceremony for 1998 will not
include coal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Organizers of the second annual New Year's Eve celebration ditched the idea
of lowering a fake anthracite lump some 90 feet from a Public Square building,
as was witnessed last year by about 4,000 revelers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Instead, in the final seconds of 1997, people will gaze toward the ALLTEL
Plaza as workers lower a blinking ornament shaped like a diamond. Fireworks
then will erupt from atop a city parking garage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The outdoor party is free, designed to attract families and other people
seeking a non-alcoholic alternative to traditional year-end blowouts.It
officially begins at 10 p.m. Wednesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Saying the event will be "even nicer this year," McGroarty outlined the
city's party plans during a brief outdoor press conference on Friday. A city
pickup truck transporting the diamond ornament served as a backdrop while the
mayor, benefiting from an admittedly slow news day, addressed two television
news crews and two newspaper reporters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Here's what will be "in with the new." The F.M. Kirby Center for the
Performing Arts will show the popular kids' movie "Toy Story," beginning at 10
p.m. Admission is $1 per family. The flick is scheduled to end before the
stroke of midnight. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The diamond ornament is a new addition, too. Weighing less than 50 pounds,
and complete with twinkling blue-and-white strands of lights, it was
constructed by Leo Nowak of Nowak's Ornamental Iron Works. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The mayor predicted an increased number of New Year's Eve vendors this
year, capitalizing on party-goers' desires for hats, noisemakers, food and-
most assuredly- hot drinks. A drawing will be held for a 1-karat diamond ring
donated by Bartikowsky Jewelers of Wilkes-Barre, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Radio station WKRZ-FM will dispatch its remote-broadcast truck to the
party, according to event promoters. And The Weekender, a weekly alternative
newspaper, will conduct a model search between 9 and 10:30 p.m. for those
people who don't mind baring a bit of their bodies for photographs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At least one Public Square business- Mimmo's Pizza &amp; Restaurant- plans to
extend its hours on New Year's Eve. "A few years ago, they had the ice
festival on the Square, and we did tremendous business every day that
weekend," said manager Rich Kachmarsky. "If we get the kind of business we had
then, it'd be phenomenal." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

New Year's Will Sparkle For W-b 
Fireworks, A Movie, Vendors And A Model Search Will Be Among The Attractions 
At This Year's Celebration On Public Square

New Year's Will Sparkle For W-b Fireworks, A Movie, Vendors And A Model Search Will Be Among The Attractions At This Year's Celebration On Public Square