People all across the County of Stettler and the Town of Stettler rang in the New Year in different ways, some in the quiet of their own home and others in a gathering of friends and strangers.
In Botha, the community hall was bustling as more than 75 people came in to dance the night away at the annual New Year's Eve all-ages dance, hosted by the Botha Old Tyme Dance Club.
The alcohol-free event promised old-time country music and dancing and drew a crowd of all sorts of ages, though primarily drew from the ranks of the elderly, many who came just to enjoy the live music, provided by The Country Gents, a band whose members hail from Millet and Drayton Valley.
"They're very popular," Doug Haustein, the club's president, said. "We've had them in for several New Year's Eve dances."
The club regularly meets throughout the year, but for the past two decades (with a few misses here-and-there), the club has hosted the New Year's Eve dance.
With the crowd of about 75 dancers, the event came in just short of breaking even, though over the year the club usually manages to end up on the right side of the financial line, Haustein said.
"We're not about making a profit," he said. "We just want to break even, so we can have fun and just dance."
As midnight approached, dancers took a balloon from a wall of balloons, each with a piece of paper inside. Each balloon's paper had well wishes for the new year, but a few had prizes as well. As the new year drew nearer, everyone gathered together to sing Auld Lang Syne, and then at midnight, brought the new year in with a bang.
Literally, as 75 people popping balloons creates quite the bang, Haustein said.
Over in the Town of Stettler, people gathered at the Legion to enjoy a New Year's Eve dinner and dancing, with music provided by Sundown. With a delicious meal of lasagna, caesar salad, chili and garlic toast to power them, the adult event brought in a crowd.
One of Stettler's RCMP constables, on patrol that night, stopped in and had a dance in his bright reflective jacket before heading back out on patrol.
An all-ages masquerade event at the Stettler Agriplex was cancelled due to low sales.