Many plan to ring in New Year at home
Many people are planning to ring in the new year at home with small gatherings of family and friends.
With a 50 percent chance of rain and snow during the day and a 40 percent chance of snow when temperatures dip to 27 degrees at night, chilling at home might be the best bet for New Year's Eve.
For some, like Jodi Laughlin, of Butler, and her fiancé Don Brezina, of Zelienople, low-key plans begin after work.
“I work early,” Laughlin said as she and Brezina took a break from shopping in the Clearview Mall on Saturday. “I think we'll do a quiet dinner and a movie.”
The couple joked that friends call them “The Brady Bunch” because each has three kids. But instead of six kids, the two plan on enjoying dinner and a movie at Brezina's house with his 15-year-old son, Ben.
The couple said they usually spend New Year's Eve quietly at home. On New Year's Day, it's the traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner at Brezina's sister's house.
Best friends Sara Streets, Lucas Menees and Stefanie Ivondowski will spend the evening at Streets' house with her kids and some other friends.
“We'll play games and hang out,” Streets said.
The tight-knit group said they do just about everything together.
“We're like 'Friends' in real life,” Ivondowski said.
Streets said she spent last New Year's Eve at Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh and would love to go out to a New Year's Eve celebration this year except for the fact that New Year's Day falls on a weekday.“If it wasn't a weekday, I'd definitely be doing something else,” she said.Cody Hogue, of East Brady, said he'll spend New Year's Eve with his wife and four children.“Just staying at the house with my wife and kids,” he said, surrounded by several packages while his family shopped at the mall.He expects other family members will drop by and play board games.“I don't really drink so we just hang out at home,” Hogue said.Joe Hulsizer, of Oil City, said he and his wife, Deb, are spending the evening at home with their four kids — two are his and two are hers.“I think we'll go out to dinner and then just stay home. We stay at home and play games with the kids,” Hulsizer said.He said they might also do some shopping during the day, but they prefer to spend New Year's Eve at home together.Jake Cavlovich and his girlfriend, Victoria Grayson, both of Etna, said they are spending the evening with Grayson's parents.“(We'll be) at her parents' house watching the ball drop on TV,” he said.Grayson said some neighbors also come over to watch the countdown to the new year.The couple plan on spending New Year's Day together, but dinner won't include pork and sauerkraut.“I don't like sauerkraut,” Grayson said.
