Kids ring in the new year early

Written by Staff Reports Tuesday, January 08, 2013 10:00 am

Alexander Bellerjeau, 8, of Ocean View, made a fine King Tut during Sea Isle City’s New Year’s Eve in Egypt celebration.  

SEA ISLE CITY – hundreds of children and their families welcomed the arrival of 2013 during Sea Isle City’s annual New Year’s Eve in Egypt celebration.

In years past, this event’s theme has ranged from Paris to Italy but in 2010 participants chose Egypt as the theme for 2011 and several years to come.

Hosted by Sea Isle’s Department of Recreation and Municipal Alliance Committee, the yearly gathering offers youngsters and their parents the opportunity to ring-in the New Year while enjoying a festive, drug and alcohol free environment inside the Sea Isle City Public School gymnasium.

This year, the event featured a hot dinner buffet, music and dancing, face painters, balloon artists and a “countdown to midnight,” which took place at 7 p.m. The school’s gym was adorned with an array of fantastic Egyptian props, such as a giant gold sarcophagus, hieroglyphic panels, a mummy’s tomb and photo-enticing backdrops of the Great Pyramids, which delighted guests and made the evening truly memorable.

After the New Year's Eve in Egypt celebration was over, Sea Isle's annual New Year's Eve fireworks display took place on the JFK Boulevard Beach at 8 p.m.

Addison Wittnebert, 8, of Hoboken, her grandfather, Mike Crowley, and friend Will McGinn, 7, strolled along the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Cecilia Campbell, 6, of Abington, Pa. (far left), is shown wearing festive party accessories with Lena Frabosilio, 5, Kelly Herrera, 5, Ellie Kutschera, 7, and Lily Beard, 7, all of Sea Isle City.

Nicholas Rutledge, 6, Vinny Povio, 7, and Joseph Rutledge, 7, all of Ocean View, watch Shari Giovinco as she twists a balloon.