A Couple of Memorable New Year's Eves

I'm sure we've all got New Year's Eve stories, and mine usually involve singing somewhere. Back in my younger days I remember a couple that will stay with me forever.

The first was in 1983. The quartet I was in at the time was set to sing for a New Year's Eve event at Rose Drive Friends Church in Yorba Linda. The church's plan for the evening was to celebrate the new year along with the folks in New York, so instead of hanging around until midnight, the event ended shortly after 9pm. That was a good idea since it got everybody home at a decent time.

I lived in a duplex in Santa Ana at the time, and I was very much the minority around there. The neighborhood was overwhelmingly Hispanic, and though most were good hard working family folk, we had our share of gang-bangers too.

I arrived home from the concert at about 10:15 pm and as I was walking up to my front door I heard tires squealing and looked up to see a car skidding around the corner (my house was on the corner) with a cop in hot pursuit. They ended up a couple of blocks away, and fortunately didn't end up in my front yard. I figured the excitement was over for the night.

This was my second New Year's Eve in Santa Ana, but the first time I was home at midnight. Around 11:50 I started hearing random shots and by midnight it sounded like the Tet offensive. The locals were firing everything from handguns to automatic weapons. I kept waiting for bullets to come crashing through my house. Needless to say, I kept a low profile until the shooting stopped around 12:30 or so.

The second night that sticks in my mind was in 1986. I was engaged at the time to the future Mrs. HolyCoast and we were spending a week with my folks up in a rented house in Running Springs. On New Year's Eve we were scheduled to sing at a banquet at the Anaheim Marriott near Disneyland. We drove down from the mountains to attend the banquet, and also on the program that night was Roy and Dale Evans and Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger (and many rides at Disneyland). My wife-to-be got to talk to Dale Evans for awhile, and she even offered marital advice (they had been married about 50 years at that point). I had my picture taken with Roy and Thurl, and following the event's end near midnight, we drove 75 miles back up to the mountain house. It was a late night, but lots of fun.

This year we'll probably just hang around the house and may not even stay up until midnight. That's what happens when you get old (and don't have a better offer).