A lot of ringing is planned on New Year's Eve in the city.

Residents can visit downtown to ring out the old and ring in the new by attending the Ring in the Arts event, an evening of entertainment planned throughout the Main Street area.

For a $10 button, anyone can stroll or drive from a variety of venues, listening to live jazz and rock, watching movies, seeing dance performances or dancing to a polka band.

A children's art exhibit will transform storefronts.

Children also will craft their own New Year's hats.

A sculptor will use a chainsaw on a tree trunk to create the first piece of art for the cultural village planned on North Main Street.

People stopping in the Morgan Building can announce their resolutions by writing them down with a host of others already taped to the lobby walls.

As part of the event, church bells will ring in unison at midnight - just minutes before a fireworks display.

Button sales will begin Friday during the Spirit of Christmas Parade on Main Street. The parade is sponsored by the Butler Eagle. Buttons will be available that day at Miller's Shoes and in the Penn Cinemas building.

Ring in the Arts, the first in the city, evolved from a comment made to houseguests by event chairwoman Maggie Stock, a professor at Butler County Community College, on last New Year's Eve.

"At midnight, when we were toasting each other, we said, 'There should be something more exciting to do,'" she said about a lack of New Year's activities in Butler.

"My brother took the idea to the Butler Arts Council," she said of Larry Stock, who is the cultural director at BC3.

"After the January arts council meeting, (we) went to see the mayor to get the city's OK. He said, 'Sure, great idea.'"

Stock said a group of about eight people began meeting in March to plan the event. After several months, the group had grown to 15, and Ring in the Arts had taken on the nickname RITA.

"People thought it was somebody new who joined the arts council," she recalled. "RITA is her own person. RITA's taken on a life all by herself. We joked, 'Did RITA join the arts council?' So yes, I guess she did."

After months of planning, the committee has signed up eight musical acts, a magician, handbell performers and other entertainers.

The performances and activities will be spread around 11 locations, with downtown restaurants open for business.

All performances will last about 45 minutes and their times will be staggered so people can attend a variety of shows.

Jazz enthusiasts, for example, won't be limited to hearing one jazz show because similar entertainers will not be scheduled simultaneously, Stock said.

Tony Chiprean of Miller's Shoes, who is helping to coordinate the entertainment, said the skill level of performers would make RITA a top event in the city.

"It's just amazing. This is going to be the largest amount of talent ever put together for Butler for one event," he said. "These are all professional musicians we're hiring."

Although Chiprean's family has owned Miller's Shoes for several generations, he said RITA's goal is not as much to help downtown businesses as to create an event for county residents.

The coordinators are unsure whether downtown business other than restaurants will opt to stay open.

Because weather will dictate whether most people walk or drive between venues, the streets will remain open so as not to affect traffic flow.

Although the event will cost more than $10,000 to coordinate, Stock said the committee has raised about $6,500 so far in grants and donations.

Button proceeds will benefit the arts council, which plans to create a

cultural village in several historic buildings on North Main Street.

"We ordered 5,000 buttons, and we are optimistic that we are going to sell them," Stock said.

The buttons, which will cost $10 per person, or $25 per family, will be sold at Friedman's and Bilo grocery stores. Quantities of 10 or more buttons also may be bought by logging on to www.butlerarts.org.

"I've done some big stuff," Maggie Stock said of her history of coordinating large events. "I run the (BC3) summer concert series. Don Rasely and I co-founded the Blazing Star Choral Society. But I don't think I've tackled something of this magnitude that's been met with so much enthusiasm and cooperation.

"Everybody is so excited. The response is kind of fun. I guess Butler was ready for a party," she added.

For information or to donate to RITA, contact Stock at 724-282-0115.