Countdown to party: 153 days

Is it New Year’s already? Not quite. But if Rich Goodwin has his way,

you’ll know when the next one gets here, down to the second.

Goodwin is promoting a major New Year’s Eve bash at the Orange

County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, complete with a slowly descending,

big, shiny, orange ball that would rival the slowly descending, big,

shiny, crystal ball that drives all those New Yorkers in Times Square

wild every Dec. 31.

The Big Apple’s ball is made of hundreds of crystal stars from

Waterford by the way -- not that you care, but it is my job to

provide you with useless information, and I take my job seriously.

“It’s apple versus orange, literally, at this point,” Goodwin

said. “West Coast versus East Coast. But obviously, we have a long

way to go before we make that claim. They do a good job in New York.”

Yes, Rich, they do; as well they should, since they’ve been at it

since 1907, which is a while.

If Goodwin gets the green light to drop the orange ball this year,

Dec. 31 will mark the first big deal New Year’s Eve party thing in

Orange County history.

The fair board is considering Goodwin’s request but hasn’t made

any commitments yet. Members want to be certain the neighbors have no

serious objections first, and they are not especially interested in

something that might be a one-time event.

Goodwin couldn’t agree more.

“We want this event to be around for 100 years,” Goodwin said,

definitely taking the make-no-small-plans adage seriously.

Exactly what will life in Orange County be like in 2105? I don’t

have a clue. I was sure Betamax was going to win, and I thought

Angelina Jolie’s lips were real until my wife explained it all to me.

But I do hope the fair board gives Goodwin’s idea a try. Let’s be

honest: The possibilities for New Year’s Eve in the Big Orange are

wimpy. You can go to a party, or pay money to go to a hotel or a

restaurant and look silly in a cheesy party hat with people you don’t

know in cheesy party hats, or just ignore the whole thing and go to

bed at 11 p.m. -- an increasingly popular choice.

According to Mesa del Mar Homeowners Assn. President Lisa Reedy,

the proposed party and concert would definitely be a change from your

basic, garden variety New Year’s Eve in Mesa del Mar.

“New Year’s Eve ... you go out and a bunch of people are banging

pots and pans together,” Reedy said. “That’s about it.”

See? We can do better than that. I think it would be fun to go

somewhere and watch a big shiny orange thing slide down a pole while

screaming “four, three, two,” etc., etc., when the big moment

arrives, all in a convenient, fairly comfortable place -- neither of

which applies to Times Square.

Speaking of convenience and the lack thereof, I was one of those

tiny dots in that ocean of dots in Times Square when the New Year’s

ball goes plop, but it was when I was much, much younger and there

was much less of me. Forty years ago, it was one of those ordeals

that are bearable, barely, when you’re a pup, when it was child’s

play compared with today, in this post-Sept. 11 world.

Today, the three-quarters of a million revelers who show up go

through a security line, are herded into separate areas behind police

barricades and -- here is the best part -- must be in place by 6

p.m., after which the entire area is sealed off. No way in, no way

out.

So the next time you watch all those people in Times Square on the

big night when it’s 18 degrees, keep in mind that they have been

standing there, shoulder to shoulder, for six hours. Does it get any

better than that? I don’t see how.

Goodwin’s proposal is much more bearable, much less nuts, and

includes much more than cheers and kisses and loud noises when the

big moment arrives. The night would feature a number of dance and

music venues with headline bands on the main stage, local bands on

side stages, a stage for bands from the 1980s, a talent contest for

bands and performers no one has heard of, and a stage exclusively for

“modern acts.”

I have no idea what “modern acts” means, but I suspect it means

bands you’ve also never heard of and wouldn’t understand.

Isn’t it great when people say “from the 1980s” as if that was a

long, long time ago? I like it. It makes me feel good. I wonder how

long ago the Glenn Miller Orchestra or the Mills Brothers were. Was

that before the 1980s? I think so.

Last and probably least, we need a big annual deal here, don’t you

think? New York has a boatload of them -- New Year’s Eve, and the St.

Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving Day parades. New Orleans has Mardi

Gras, and Florida has hurricanes.

Everybody’s got a big annual deal but us. Let’s give this a shot.

In fact, let’s practice. Come on, everybody, “Four, three, two,

one.... Happy New Year!”

Yikes. That was awful. Not to worry. We have time.

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].