With less than a week left in 1999, there are still local options for making millennium celebration plans that fit every budget.

Wednesday, December 29, 1999

With less than a week left in 1999, there are still local options for making millennium celebration plans that fit every budget.

Just across the river in Ashland, Ky., the city’s New Year’s celebration will be in full swing at 10 p.m. for area residents who want to experience a night outdoors modeled after the famous celebration in Times Square in New York.

Judd Plaza in downtown Ashland will host an alcohol-free, family event with live entertainment, including Kayla Hall, Jessi Rachelle, Paul Pace and Brad Adkins.

Prize drawings throughout the evening will lead up to the big event – a ball drop at midnight. And just before the new millennium begins, a time capsule will be buried to commemorate the occasion.

For more information, contact the Ashland Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at 1-606-327-2046.

In Huntington, W.Va., Chesapeake residents Jerry and Jane Morse and their daughters, Emily and Jessica, along with the other members of First Night Dinner Theater will perform "Nuncrackers – The Nunsense Christmas Musical."

The musical comedy details the story of the Little Sisters’ of Hoboken who are filming a Christmas program in the convent basement as a fundraiser. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. with the show starting at 8 p.m. both Friday and Saturday nights at the First United Methodist Church, 1124 Fifth Ave., Huntington.

Other local residents will perform with the troupe, including Herschel Jeffries of Chesapeake and Sara Lester Tschop of Proctorville.

Reservations are required and prices, which include dinner and the show, are $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12. Limited show-only tickets are available for $5 as space permits.

For reservations and ticketing information, call 867-8576 or 1-304-522-0357.

Taking a cruise on the Ohio River filled with food, mystery and fun is just a phone call away. New Year’s Eve Millennium cruises start at $39.95 on the Mountain State Murder Mystery cruise liner.

For area residents who already have plans for the eve of the millennium, a New Year’s Day Cruise also is available. Ticket and reservation information may be obtained by calling the Cabell-Huntington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at 1-800-635-6392.

The city also will offer a free fireworks display on the river at midnight, convention bureau officials said.

In Portsmouth, the city and the Portsmouth River Days Committee will co-host a community-wide celebration.

In the downtown business district at the Roy Rogers Esplanade, activities including music, a 12-foot screen with live coverage from Time’s Square and a New Year’s Eve ball drop will help ring in the new millennium.

In addition, local non-profit organizations will provide food and a public showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" with audience participation planned. Prizes also will be given away.

The family event is free to the public.