Fun is First Night's main draw

RALEIGH -- Maggie Young didn't come downtown Monday just to celebrate the start of a new year.

She came with a message to share with the estimated 40,000 revelers at First Night Raleigh, the city's 17th New Year's Eve celebration. Her "positive protest poster" said simply, "Change the world. Happy New Year."

Her sister, 9-year-old Anna, made a sign asking people to "Love the Earth in 2008."

"We're always trying to help people," said Maggie, 14, of Raleigh. "Maybe we will change the world."

Downtown streets were blocked off for First Night, an annual alcohol-free and family-friendly party. It was a night full of games, music and other entertainment, capped off by the dropping of the acorn at midnight.

"It's good clean fun," said Jenny Urbanski of North Raleigh, who came with her husband and two daughters.

This year's theme was a celebration of the 1960s, with a dance floor where soap bubbles floated over children dancing to '60s music and a "hippie flower-making station."

Children had their own '60s fun, with love beads, tie-dyes, headbands and "positive protest" signs they carried in the People's Procession, the popular annual march down Fayetteville Street.

But amid the smell of funnel cakes and the sound of live music, some took time to ponder the clean slate the new year brings. The hope and optimism of the Young sisters were also on display at the Resolution Oak Tree, where people tied plastic bands on which they wrote down their New Year's vows.

Amid resolutions to lose weight and get organized were promises to "Make NC a Better Place," "Give Back to Others" and "Be More Green."

Julie and Michael Massey of Raleigh made resolutions meant to start the new year off fresh. Hers: "To love and forgive like a child." His: "To be a better person."