Christmas may be just a week away, but many folks are looking ahead and finalizing plans for New Year's Eve. Many large hotels offer packages that include lodging, entertainment, dancing, champagne and meals for those looking to bid adieu to 2005 and welcome 2006 in grand fashion.
Several Michigan casinos are throwing parties of various sorts, with two offering drawings for cash prizes.
The Leelanau Sands Casino near Suttons Bay is playing host to the Kalamazoo band Johnny Apollo and the Saturn Seven from 6-10 p.m. in the Sands Showroom and the Traverse City group Eminence in the Elements Lounge from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Admission to either is free, with New Year's party favors provided.
The casino is also offering a reservations-required buffet priced at $19.95 and featuring prime rib, snow crab legs, chicken and fish and a build-your-own sundae bar as well as a special appetizer menu in the Bingo Hall.
The other second Grand Traverse Resort casino, Turtle Creek in Willamsburg, will have a disk jockey playing dance music beginning at 6 p.m. Again, there party favors will be provided to casino guests.
There is limited New Year's Eve walk-in seating available in Turtle Creek's Misheekeh Restaurant, where dinner prices range from $16-$44. The Creekside Cafe will offer an appetizer buffet until 11 p.m. and a $6.50 per person breakfast menu starting at 12:30 a.m.
Each casino will give away $2,006 at 1 a.m. in must-be-present-to-win drawings. There also will be $500 and $100 drawings between 6 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
To learn more, contact the Leelanau Sands Casino, (800) 922-2WIN, or the Turtle Creek Casino, or visit casino2win.com.
The Little River Casino in Manistee is offering a special buffet and chocolate fountain in the Three Fires Conference Center, where caricaturists, magicians and a Frank Sinatra-style crooner will entertain. Doors open at 7 p.m. for appetizers and dinner starts at 8 p.m., with a champagne toast at midnight. A cash bar will be available during the evening.
Tickets are $40 per person and available at the Odawa Trading Post gift shop or at www.starticketplus.com. For more information, call (888) 568-2244.
Victories Casino in Petoskey is hosting its "New York! New York! New Year's Eve," with guests able to watch the ball drop in Times Square while ringing in 2006 and dance the night away to the music of Mojo and the Boogieman. Again, there will be party favors .
