ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The St. Clairsville Sunrise Rotary Club will again help families ring in the new year with its annual Noon Year’s Eve Bash set for Dec. 31 at the Ohio Valley Mall.

The family-friendly event, which kicked off in 2019 and only took a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will include an array of games and activities, arts and crafts, magic shows with Michael Strough, face painting, music, balloon art and presentations. The event will culminate with a countdown to noon, when balloons will be dropped from the ceiling to welcome in 2023.

John Tomlan, a member of the Rotary and one of the event organizers, said they have expanded this year’s event to include additional activities for the kids.

“We’ve had a number of organizations and businesses contact us to say they were interested in participating this year to provide activities,” he said.

There will be agility activities, giant games, a selfie station, slime-making station, noisemaker station and more.

Tomlan said they are anticipating around 500 children to attend this year’s soiree.

“We’ve had good attendance since we’ve had it. Last year, we were down a little bit because of COVID. In fact, we weren’t even sure until we were very near the event whether we were even going to host it due to concerns about transmission of COVID, but this year, we’re pretty comfortable. It doesn’t seem to be as bad so we’re going full force,” he said.

Tomlan said the goal is to provide a fun activity for families to enjoy together that may not otherwise be available.

The idea came about after Tomlan witnessed a similar event being put on at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum while there with his grandchildren.

“They had a ball drop at noon and had all the activities there in the museum.

“We went clear to Pittsburgh for that for a number of years and thought, ‘This would be a good idea to try out locally,'” he said.

There is a $5 fee per child, which includes access to all the day’s activities, a hat or tiara, and goody bag. Tomlan said the funds garnered from the event will be used to contribute back to the community.

“We arrived at that price because we thought it would not exclude anyone from participating … and we try to make sure that no one gets turned away no matter their ability to pay,” he said.

The event is sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank, Belmont County Tourism Council, Friends of the Belmont County Juvenile Court, Stewart’s R.V. Center and the Ohio Valley Mall.

Candi Noble-Greathouse, marketing director of the mall, said the fun event will help round out the holiday activities for the year.

“We’re happy that the St. Clairsville A.M. Rotary thought to bring it to us a few years ago,” she said. “Kids are always looking for something to do on their break (from school), and this is filled with lots of different types of entertainment.”

The bash will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 31 inside the mall from the center court to the Tilt Studio arcade. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.