The Great Seal of the Town of Saugus, Massachusetts

The Town of Saugus
Year 2000 Millennium Celebration
Committee




Goal

Quite simply, the goal of the Saugus Year 2000 Millennium Celebration Committee is to organize and fund a party to observe the turn of the calendar from December 31, 1999 to the January 1, 2000.

This party will be on December 31, 1999 at the Square One Mall in Saugus.

There will also be a separate 2000 Millennium Dinner Dance to be held on September 17, 1999; the details can be found on the Community Event Calendar.

Fundraising

Between now and then we'll hold fundraisers to help offset the costs of the party, and the committee meets nearly every month for the purposes of organizing both these fundraisers and the party itself. Watch the Community Event Calendar for details.

Currently we're selling a few souvenir items including Saugus 2000 Throws, Saugus 2000 Millennium caps, Saugus 2000 yo-yos, and Millennium Babies (similar to Beanie Babies). We're also selling admission buttons for all the Saugus Millennium activities. These buttons will be being sold at the Town Hall, Eastern Bank, the Saugus Cooperative Bank, the Saugus Federal Credit Union, Balloonatics, Dr. Upton's Office, and S. James Beauty Salon. The price of the buttons is $20 per adult, $10 per child (5-12 years old; children under 5 are free).

Party Details

Family entertainment is the plan: music & entertainment for adults; rock music for the young (and young-at-heart) provided by a disc jockey; clowns, magicians, and face painting for kids. The Saugus Youth Commission will have additional activities planned for the final week of Dec. 1999 throughout the community as well as that night in the Mall. A "Pasta Delight" supper will be provided at the Mall (it's included in the ticket price, but entrance is by reservation only -- buy a button!). Balloons and school-age children's drawings will decorate the Mall, and a lighting show will highlight the evening at midnight. Of course there will be party hats and noisemakers.

We're also thinking about an art show during the final week of December, but this hasn't been decided yet.

As more details become available, they will be announced both here and on Saugus.net.

History

We have a detailed history that you may peruse if you're interested. If you'd like the short version, the Saugus Board of Selectmen voted in early '97 to appoint a steering committee to investigate the feasibility of a year 2000 town-wide celebration, the Saugus Finance Committee recommended $2500 for start-up expenses, and the Saugus Town Meeting appropriated it as a loan -- that is, although the money is initially coming out of town taxes, it will have to all be paid back through fundraising before the party takes place.

Contact People

There are three primary people to contact if you want more specific information:

John Mangini, General Chair
39 Main Street, Saugus (231-1404)
Ted Golan, Treasurer
33 Forest Avenue, Saugus (233-3965)
Paul Ciccarelli, Business Chair
549 Lincoln Avenue, Saugus (233-0300)

The full list of committee members and activity coordinators is also available though if you'd prefer.

Why 2000?

While we're aware of the whole 2000 versus 2001 controversy we've decided to plan a celebration for the last night of 1999 for a few key reasons:

  1. A large number of people view January 1, 2000 as the first day of the 21st century;
  2. Even if it isn't the numerical change from the "999" to "000" is still a big deal;
  3. We'll all be too busy helping to launch HAL in 2001 to take time off for a party;
  4. If we're to believe all the doom & gloom prophesies of Y2K catastrophic computer failures, we really ought to celebrate while we still can;
  5. If after having the 2000 party we want to have another one to celebrate 2001, we still have the option -- this doesn't work the other way around.

In any case, the point of the party is just to have fun and celebrate the arrival of the new millennium. The exact timing is not meant to be taken too seriously.