New Year’s Eve dance
Where: Manchester Inn, 1027 Manchester Ave., Middletown
When: begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday
Cost: $55 per couple in advance, $60 at the door; 5-course Dinner and dance $179.95
Reservations: (513) 207-3021
MIDDLETOWN — It may be the final dance at the city’s Manchester Inn, and revelers plan on making sure the annual New Year’s Eve party goes out with a bang.
The annual New Year’s Eve dance by Night Mission Productions kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Manchester Inn’s main ballroom.
The evening will include a five-course buffet meal plus wine and champagne for guests, as well as gift certificates and champagne prizes and a midnight balloon drop. The Bob Gray Orchestra will be playing ballroom dance songs and pop selections and several dance instructors will be on hand to help revelers perfect their moves. A cash bar also will be open, said Michael Scoggins, event organizer.
The attire for the event is formal, and dancers from novice to experienced are welcome. About 150 people are expected to attend.
“We are pulling out all the stops,” Scoggins said. “This is a big blow-out and we are looking forward to it. It’s just going to be a wonderful, fun evening for people to enjoy and bring the whole family.”
The Manchester Inn has been at the center of talks by Cincinnati State Technical and Community College as the home for the school’s culinary program. School officials are in negotiations with the city of Middletown to open a new branch campus. City officials are in the process of acquiring the hotel for the college, with plans to close the deal with current owners, Manchester Enterprises LLC, by early next year.
The plans have made the future of the New Year’s Eve dance uncertain, Scoggins said. The hotel has been home to several New Year’s Eve dances, and this will be the second year for the Night Mission Productions ballroom dance. However, the hotel is not booking reservations after Dec. 31, Scoggins said, so he is forced to look at other venues for the annual New Year’s event as well as the monthly dances his company holds at the hotel.
“The future is very bleak because no one knows who is in charge, to be quite frank,” he said. “We would like to be in (the Manchester) because it’s an established venue.”
For now, Scoggins said he has booked monthly dances at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hamilton, and he said he plans to keep in contact with Cincinnati State to see if the dances can return.
“We’d like to stay here and be at the Manchester Inn in the future,” Scoggins said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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