Hilo teens party
‘clean’ tonightA drink-- and drug-free event
will be fueled by youthful energy
HILO >> Three thousand dangling compact discs will reflect rainbow colors, a computer-generated light show will play onscreen, nonstop music won't slow even for the trash-fashion show by the Dumpster Divas, and there won't be a single drop of alcohol.
As the rest of the world counts down tonight to the 2004 New Year, Hilo teenagers will gather at the historic Palace Theater for their own no-booze, no-drugs Countdown '04.
"It's going to be loud. It's going to be a lot of hormones in one room. It's going to be great," said organizer Cheryl "Quack" Moore of the Friends of the Palace Theater.
Only 450 tickets will be sold, because that's all the theater can hold, but with "wrist-tickets" strapped on their arms, the teenage party animals will be free to roam Haili Street in front of the theater where a block of the street has been closed to traffic.
There'll be food booths on the street, a roving camerawoman broadcasting interviews back onto a screen inside the theater, and even the Republican Party selling cookies and registering voters. The event is an opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate their declared stance against the drug "ice," explained party member Jo Anne Medeiros.
The concept grew out of an initial thought of the Friends of the Palace doing a New Year's special for adults, but a realization that a temporary liquor license, while possible, would be too much trouble, Moore said.
At the same time, she heard complaints from her nieces and nephews that there's nothing for teenagers to do on New Year's Eve.
If they can't get into a night club where bands are playing, they may end up in a lava field at a "rave," she said. "It's a bad night."
The Countdown '04 alternative is an event where "kids get priority," Moore said. "We have a lot of security. The parents, at least they know where (the kids) are."
In 2000 Moore arrived from New York City after 25 years of helping to create the weekly television show Saturday Night Live.
But she credits "amazing" talent among local performers for promising to make the event a success. Seven bands will play, including the contemporary Polynesian group Moemoea, which will do the countdown to midnight.
Practically everything is volunteered, sponsored and donated. The $10 admission fee doesn't even pay the cost of insurance, Moore said.
Drawings throughout the night offer prizes like a helicopter tour for two, a snorkel trip for four, a compact disc player.
And vibrating through the night will be youthful energy.
Those Dumpster Divas and their recycled trash clothing, for example: "These girls dance," said Moore. "They're like Brazilian dancers, so they're going to dance while they're modeling."