BY FAYE DASEN

Features Editor

If you're looking for something to do on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, here are a few options

Friends of the Moore Free Care Clinic are hosting a New Year's Eve Bash at the Pine Needles Conference Center beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are just $40 per person. Tickets include live music and a DJ, heavy hors d'oeuvres and a champagne toast.

A cash bar will be available.

The band House Call will also be performing.

"Raffles, door prizes and other entertainment will make ushering in the New Year special," says the spokesman.

All proceeds will go to Moore Free Care Clinic, which provides no-cost medical care for low income, uninsured residents of Moore County.

For more information about the clinic, visit www.moorefreecare.org.

Tickets will be available at the door.

First Eve

For the younger crowd, the annual First Eve in downtown Southern Pines offers a hodgepodge of activities.

First Eve, which takes place on Broad Street near the train depot and the Sunrise Theater, offers children, -particularly younger ones, the opportunity to ring in 2013 and enjoy being part of the New Year's Eve festivities without staying up too far past their bedtime.

The event, sponsored by the Southern Pines Business Association and the Southern Pines Recreation and Parks Department, begins at 6 p.m. and will feature food, face-painting and fun for the whole family. Party favors will be available for purchase.

The Almost Perfect Band, a four-man ensemble based out of Seven Lakes, will be providing live music for much of the evening.

Robert Enloe, Matt Kuhn, Andy Roberts and Robbie Singletary, all Moore County residents, will play a repertoire of songs spanning -several genres, including rock, country and blues.

The band, which has been -together since 2008, has played both cover songs and original tracks in numerous local venues over the past couple of years. It will be Almost Perfect's fourth year -performing at First Eve.

Other familiar faces stepping up to the First Eve stage include DJ William McFaden, who will have people dancing in the streets, Happy Dan the Magic Man and Jingles the Clown, who will tower above -revelers as he wanders through the crowd on stilts.

Food booths will offer tantalizing treats. In addition, both Swank and The Ice Cream Parlor will be open during the festivities.

Rain or shine, the evening's -entertainment will conclude at 8 p.m. next to the train depot with the traditional pine cone drop.

Library Activities

"Families attending the annual First Eve in -downtown Southern Pines this year should stop by the Southern Pines Public Library to ring in the New Year with some crafts!" says Assistant Director Amanda Snyder. The library will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. New Year's Eve, and craft tables will be set up all day for children of all ages to enjoy.

The crafts, sponsored by the Friends of Southern Pines Library, will include making decorations for the Year of the Snake, getting party-ready and -creating a reading resolution book. Games will be set up to play in the library, and children can win prizes when they demonstrate their New Year's knowledge.

Adults coming to the library may also find some useful materials to help them with their resolutions. The library's collection contains many books and resources on popular New Year resolution types, such as getting organized, exercising more, dieting, kicking bad habits, and learning new things. Reference Desk staff can help patrons find information on reaching their goals.

And for the coming year, Library Director Lynn Thompson reminds everyone to "Let your New Year's Resolution be to help Southern Pines Grow Great Readers!"

The Southern Pines Public Library is located at 170 West Connecticut Avenue and can be reached by phone at (910) 692-8235.

First Day Hikes

If you are ready to start working off the holiday pounds, Weymouth Woods offers two first day hikes Tuesday, Jan. 1, with an 8 a.m. bird walk (beginning at the visitors center) and the 2 p.m. "Hike to the Old Growth," for which participants meet at the center and carpool to the Boyd Round Timber Tract.

Both hikes are approximately 1.5 miles. "No dogs, please," says a spokesman.

Call (910) 692-2167 for more information.

Annual Breakfast

The InAsMuch ministry of First Baptist Church of Carthage will host its free fifth annual community breakfast and fellowship Tuesday, Jan. 1, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. in the fellowship hall.

The event includes food, prayer, music and fellowship.

For information, call (910) 947-6456.

Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com.