Most folks spent last New Year’s Eve hunkered down at home and are now ready to make up for the year of no parties. Here are some perfect ways to welcome 2022.
Dinner, Music & Dancing
For a traditional bash to ring in the new year, contact these spots.
Celebrate in style with drinks, dinner, party favors, live entertainment and a champagne toast at WoW’s “ICE & ONYX” New Year’s Eve Gala.
$60 in advance/$75 at door; Radisson Hotel Ballroom, 3100 Glendale Ave. Contact Marsha at 419-917-2557 for tickets.
Maumee Bay Brewing Company’s NYE Party offers a dinner buffet, drinks, champagne toast and live music by the Grape Smugglers.
$75/person. 7pm. 27 Broadway St. Call 419-243-1302 for tickets.
NYE at Swanton American Legion Murbach-Siefert Post #479. Enjoy live music by Back At It, hors d’oeuvres, snacks, open bar and, of course, a champagne toast.
$30/person. Tickets on sale at the Swanton American Legion, 200 S Hallett Ave, Swanton.
Party and dance the night away at Sneaky Pete’s New Year’s Bash featuring classic rock cover band Random Act. 8:30pm.
5347 N Detroit Ave. 419-470-9814 or facebook.com/sneakypetessaloons.
Wine & Beer
The NYE Bash with Abbigale & Benfield Wines features munchies, music and a ball drop champagne toast at midnight, along with wine made in house, beer from local breweries and a variety of bourbons — what more could you need?
8pm-12:30am. Benfield Wines, 102 N Main St., Swanton. 419-862-5427 or [email protected].
Celebrate with a meal catered by Sweetwater Chophouse and musical entertainment by Joe N Shuey at Leisure Time Winery. The ball drops at 10pm, a bonus for those who are hard pressed to stay awake until midnight.
$50/person. 5-10:30pm. 16982 County Road M2, Napoleon. 419-758-3442.
Inside the Five Brewing Co. is offering a Beer Pairing Dinner at its Perrysburg and Sylvania locations. Enjoy culinary inspired craft beers brewed by this winner of Ohio Brewers Cup 2021 Awards.
Reservations recommended; call 567-408-7212 (Sylvania) or 419-931-0707 (Perrysburg).
Brandywine Country Club’s Happy New Year Celebration boasts music by Toledo rock and roll cover band the Red Carpet Crashers and a prime rib buffet, appetizers, desserts, champagne toast and a midnight snack.
Open to the public. $85/person, advance reservation required. 7pm. 6904 Salisbury Rd., Maumee. 419-865-2393 or brandywinecc.com.
Themed Parties
If you want a celebration with a twist, why not try a themed New Year’s party? Book your reservation and start planning your costume now!
The Historic Clinton Inn presents a formal New Year’s Eve Gala in the style of the Roaring 1920’s. This is a costume cocktail party for fans of The Great Gatsby, with a strictly enforced dress code that includes jacket and tie for men and dresses for women.
$60-100/ticket. 8pm-1am. The Clinton Inn, 104 West Michigan Ave, Clinton, MI. tinyurl.com/hhk4vdjk
If the 80’s are more your style, the Let’s Glow Crazy NYE Party is for you! Don your brightest neon colors and other 80’s attire and enjoy an fun evening of unlimited drinks served by “flair” bartenders.
$250-300/couple; includes hotel room. 8pm-1am. Quality Inn, 13508 Ohio 15, Montpelier, OH. tinyurl.com/3zjuf9ae
Outdoor Celebrations
Downtown Fremont’s annual New Year’s Eve Celebration returns with restaurants and businesses expected to take part in the festivities. facebook.com/FremontNYE/
Port Clinton is the Walleye Capital of the World, so what else would this city on the shores of Lake Erie do but drop an LED-LIT, 20-foot, 600-pound walleye at the stroke of midnight? The annual Walleye Drop includes a countdown and live entertainment, fireworks and a “bar swim” — a bar loop, beginning at 7 pm, on heated, luxury buses ending downtown. facebook.com/WylieWalleyeFoundation/
Family Fun
If midnight is a bit too late for your family, here are some fun alternative celebrations.
The Toledo Zoo’s Noon Year’s Eve is one of the biggest family parties in town, celebrating the stroke of noon with apple juice toasts, the rise of a recycling ball and a cascade of biodegradable confetti. The outdoor celebration will also include grab-and-go crafts along with ice carving and animal demonstrations.
11am-1pm. Free with admission. Toledo Zoo, 2 Hippo Way. toledozoo.org
Get ready for the big event the day before at Imagination Station’s New Year’s Eve EVE Celebration, when the family science museum will drop 22,000 bouncy balls to welcome 2022. Dec. 30.
1 Discovery Way. imaginationstationtoledo.org.
Outdoor hockey returns to Fifth Third Field for Winterfest, which includes two Walleye outdoor hockey games. The team takes to the Marathon Outdoor Rink at Fifth Third Field for 6 p.m. games on Dec. 26 and Dec. 31. If your family enjoys ice skating, you can also hit the rink yourselves for open skate times on Dec. 24 and 27 or Jan. 1.
406 Washington St.. toledowalleye.com/en/winterfest
Enjoy a nostalgic horse-drawn sleigh or trolley ride through Spiegel Grove, the wooded estate of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
$4.50-5.50/rider ages 3 and up. Dec. 26-31, 1-4 p.m. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Spiegel Grove, Fremont. 419-332-2081. rbhayes.org
The Toledo Museum of Art’s Great Art Escape returns with special programming and exhibitions, including family-friendly flashlight tours, drawing in the galleries, daily glass-blowing demonstrations, holiday-themed glass art workshops and a dragon-themed scavenger hunt.
Dec. 29-Jan. 2. 2445 Monroe St. toledomuseum.org.
Fitness
Start your new year off on the right foot with a race that takes “Two years to Finish!” Since 2001 the Toledo Roadrunners Club has hosted its Midnight Special 5K, followed by its companion event, The Hangover Classic 5K, on New Year’s Day. All finishers receive a custom finisher’s medal.
$25. Fallen Timbers Middle School, 6119 Finzel Rd, Whitehouse.
midnightspecial5k.com
