Gazebo in Niagara on the Lake

MORE WAYS TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR!!

There will be plenty of ways to welcome the start of 2013. Whether it’s New Year’s Eve events you’re looking for or a new tradition for New Year’s Day, Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding areas have you covered. Here’s a rundown on what you can do to welcome the new year:

• Party the night away at the old courthouse downtown with the St. Andrew’s Society. The New Year’s Eve Ball will feature live music by the 5th Avenue Dance Band, a gourmet dinner and a bagpiper ringing in the new year around the cenotaph/clock tower on Queen Street at midnight.

Organizer Margaret Middleton said the event is always a fun time and is open to the whole community. The evening starts with cocktails at 7:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 8:30. The meal includes appetizers, leek and potato soup with aged cheddar and two choices of mains, wine-braised boneless short ribs or pan-roasted filet of salmon with wild forest mushroom cream. Dessert is included. There will be a cash bar for the evening and the dress code is formal, men can wear suits, tuxedos or kilts. Tickets are $90 per person and must be purchased in advance.

For tickets contact Middleton at    905-468-1539       or email mwmiddleton@cogeco.ca.

• Niagara Falls will be playing host to one of the largest New Year’s Eve parties in the country with thousands of people heading down to the brink of the world-famous falls to welcome the new year. Live performances for the Dec. 31 event include Dragonette, Hedley and Nelly Furtado.

The free show kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Queen Victoria Park. Presented by the Niagara Parks Commission and Entertainment Tonight (ET) Canada, the event will air live on TV for those preferring to stay at home. The evening also includes two fireworks display. For full details visit www.niagaraparks.com/nye.

• On Jan. 1, 2013 the Royal Canadian Legion General Nelles br. 124 will once again host its annual New Year’s Day Levee to welcome the new year. The whole community is invited out to reflect back on the year that just passed and to toast the year to come. The event will run from 1-4 p.m. at the Legion hall at 410 King St. There will be light food and refreshments available.

• When all of the partying is said and done, don’t forget to hold on to those extra bottles. The Newark Squadron 809 Air Cadets will once again be conducting a holiday bottle collection drive. On Jan. 5 the cadets will conduct door-to-door pick-ups of bottles in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Old Town, Garrison Village, Queenston, St. Davids and Virgil. The pick-ups will take place between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Those who prefer to drop off their bottles can do so at Van Noort Greenhouses, 2069 Creed Rd., at the corner of Hunter Rd. on Jan. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Call us for your accommodation needs at:  1-866-226-4730

Gazebo in Niagara on the Lake