Three Creeks Community Library counts down to Noon Year

With five minutes to go before the clock struck 12, anticipation levels rose in the community room at the Three Creeks Community Library.

A net suspended from the ceiling was full of colorful balloons, waiting to drop on celebrators below. Youngsters dance to the music filled the room. Parents got their cellphone cameras ready. A projector screen started the countdown.

“Twenty, 19, 18, 17,” the kids started yelling.

“Sixteen, 15, 14, 13,” they squealed.

“Twelve, 11, 10,” they chanted, their pitch getting higher.

“Nine, eight, seven, six, five.” They began bouncing, arms outstretched toward the balloon cloud above.

“Four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!” the kids shrieked as balloons rained down.

The kids — from toddlers to grade-schoolers — started scooping up all the balloons they could. Some smiled proudly when they found a balloon. Some began rubbing the balloons on their heads to create static, while others bopped nearby kids on the top of their heads.

“(The balloon drop) was the one thing we absolutely had to have,” said Barbara Jorgenson, library branch manager. “How can you have a New Year’s celebration without it?”

About 150 people visited the Salmon Creek library Saturday morning for the Noon Year’s Celebration — a capstone event for 2016, just 12 hours shy of the actual end of the year.

“It’s great for parents,” Jorgenson said. “Then kids don’t have to stay up till midnight.”

Jorgenson started the event three years ago after reading about a similar party at an out-of-town library. The first year, organizers planned for 25 people and 150 showed up. Last year, more than 200 people attended.

Nine-year-old Breanna Kelley and her mom, Sandra Kelley, have attended the event every year.

“Ever since we’ve been in Washington, we go to this New Year’s Eve party,” Breanna explained.

“It’s our tradition,” Sandra Kelley added.

The family moved to Vancouver three years ago.

“It’s a way to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her, where she doesn’t have to stay up until midnight,” Kelley said, though Breanna said she had plans to stay up until 3 a.m.

As party music filled the community room, Breanna bounced from one craft table to another. She used a measuring cup and funnel to fill a small plastic water bottle with red, white and blue rice. Then, she colored a paper label for the shaker and finished it off with a ribbon.

“It’s an American flag,” she said.

Other craft tables had the supples for masks, headbands, wish wands and sparkler wands.

Rick Terrazas and his 2 1/2 -year-old daughter Anabell spent some time making a mask before Anabell headed to the makeshift dance floor.

“It’s just something to do today rather than stay in the house,” he said.

They live across the street from the library and are regular visitors. For Saturday’s special event, however, Anabell wore her pink princess dress.

“She’s really into princesses,” her dad explained.

Eight-year-old Lucas Walburn had little interest in the music, dancing or crafts. He found a spot along the wall to sit and read his book while his 7-year-old sister, Sydney Walburn, and mom, Amy Nopachai, worked their way through the craft tables.

The family typically celebrates New Year’s Eve at home, watching the East Coast news feed of the ball dropping in Times Square at 9 p.m. before sending the kids to bed, Nopachai said. Saturday’s event just offered a way to extend the party.

“I think it’s great for the kids,” Nopachai said, “so they have an option to celebrate New Year’s Eve.”