Carnegie Carnegie's director looks back at New Year's Eves, 2020

New Year’s Eve is a special occasion night. I have a few good memories. Being kissed by a stranger in the Times Square throng when I was 13 or 14. (My height made me appear older.) My glowering father was right there, but I was thrilled!

A few eves later, my family had single-seat tickets to the Off Broadway production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Was an actor ever more perfectly cast than Gary Burghoff as the title character? Who? And yes. Burghoff went on to play Radar O’Reilly on seven-plus seasons of “M*A*S*H.” I also remember family-friendly parties with great food and CMU economists …

More often than not, though, I was on the New Year’s Eve sidelines. In my teens, I was in demand as a babysitter. During my college years, the New Years’ Eve waitressing tips would still make my eyes pop. As a young mother, I never lined up a babysitter in time. Movies and affordable wine at home became the tradition.

Carnegie introduced me to a happy hour New Year’s Eve celebration at Riley’s Pour House. There was a free champagne toast at 7 p.m. (midnight in Dublin), complete with a bagpiper and belly dancers on the bar. Belly dancing is kind of a thing in Carnegie … The partying continued for the harder core, but I was happily home by 8 p.m.

December 31, 2020, is the final day of a year that we are all eager to put in the past, the final day of a year that few of us will forget.

There won’t be much revelry. There are severe restrictions on gatherings, and we’ve all been warned to extend that caution to our homes. It sounds grim, and it is – for restaurants, bars, performance venues and so many more.

Never much of a reveler, I ruminate as the first fifth of the 21st century ends. As of press time, covid has taken more than 342,000 lives in the United States. It has ravaged exponentially more individuals, families, businesses and communities – the very fabric of our lives.

But something must be said for all who carry on in the face of what they not too long ago thought of as unthinkable. For me, that was closing the Library & Music Hall facility for months, then being distanced from my sister who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in August. (OK, I gambled. We had a three-day visit in a Manhattan made surprisingly vibrant by perfect weather and ubiquitous outdoor dining.) But now surges and chemo vulnerability keep us apart.

Uncertainty, fear and stress take their toll. However, I marvel at the resilience, resourcefulness and – for all the rancor of 2020 – the seemingly boundless encounters with kindness and generosity. Our community’s outpouring of support for the Carnegie Carnegie, especially during this strange holiday season, leaves me frequently misty-eyed.

Tearing off the last page of 2020’s calendar carries no magic. We have so much healing to do: physical, emotional, economic, societal. But as we close this year, I know the healing has begun.

This may make this my most celebratory New Year’s Eve yet! As the century reaches maturity, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall looks forward to being part of your 2021.