Decatur County News

Local Youth, Parents Ring In New Year
January 1st 2006

The Decatur County Civic Center was a hotspot for local youth and their parents last Saturday night, as around 150 gathered to ring in 2006 with music, food, and a message: the message that youth can celebrate in a positive, uplifting way, while having fun at the same time.

The first annual New Year’s Party for area youth was a collaborative effort of Decatur County’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Beech River Youth Alliance, which is a Christian youth group organization, of which local evangelist Barry Autry works in close contact with. Autry, who frequently promotes and brings Christian-themed events to the area, helped to organize the event, along with Parks and Recreation Department Director Jeff Kobiske.

“I thought it turned out real well,” Kobiske said after the event, which was the first of its kind to be held in Decatur County. “We just wanted something positive for the kids to do.”

Activities included games, like a scaled-down version of the hit TV show “Fear Factor”, and musical chairs. There were prizes given away to the winners. There was also plenty of food, thanks to those who volunteered their help at the concession stand.

Local Christian rock band, S.U.T.L., brought down the house with a concert to kick off the evening. Speakers at the event were local pastor Tracy McCormick, and nationally-known Christian Pop artist Bobby Burns. Burns scored a hit on Billboard’s Christian music charts back in the late ’90’s, with his hit “What Would Jesus Do”, and is a widely-known speaker and praise and worship leader.

Burns gave a riveting sermon and testimony at the end of the event; one which captivated the young crowd, who sat in a giant circle as Burns spoke. It was the story of a father who faced the choice of saving his son and letting hundreds of other train passengers perish, or sacrificing his son and letting the other passengers live. The story likened the father to God sacrificing his own son, Jesus Christ, to save a multitude of people.

“He was a great speaker,” added Kobiske, “and that story had some of the attendees in tears. It was wonderful.”
At the stroke of midnight, 3000 balloons cascaded down upon the crowd. County Mayor Kenneth Broadway performed the countdown, and released the balloons to welcome in 2006. “Those kids stomping those balloons...it sounded just like fireworks,” said Kobiske, “...like our own, safe, indoor fireworks show. It took about 20 minutes for the kids to pop all the balloons, and they were having a great time doing it! We all enjoyed that.”

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