Megan Davern and Amy Eger, friends for "20 million years," they claim, were following the First Night Pageant and Parade down Sixth Avenue last night when someone hollered at them to stop.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Walking with a giant puppet at Pittsburgh's First Night celebration are Amy Smeal, left and Katie Neil. Click photo for larger image.

Arm in arm, they whirled around to find a gentleman they had never seen before holding a disposable camera. He asked them to pose.

"That happens all the time," Eger explained.

"I think it has something to do with the boas," added her mother, Linda Eger, who was laughing as she watched the women beam into the camera.

The man then melted into the crowd, having perfectly captured the friendly, fun spirit of Pittsburgh's annual New Year's Eve celebration.

Davern and Eger, both 27, actually met when they were cheerleaders at Steel Valley High School. Both have moved away from their hometown; Davern to Laurinburg, N.C., where she teaches third-graders, and Eger to Orlando, Fla., where she teaches college students. But every year, they make two trips home for important, festive occasions: the St. Patrick's Day parade and First Night.

"It's a time for friends and family to get together, to forget your troubles and have fun," Eger said, smiling behind her 2004 sunglasses. "Downtown Pittsburgh is where it's at."

The Mardi Gras-style parade (sans alcohol, of course, as are all First Night activities) attracted a crowd three and four rows deep in some places on Penn Avenue. Children scrambled for the candy thrown by people on the floats, and they oohed and aahed at the giant puppets created by Cheryl Capezzuti.

Local favorites Phat Man Dee and Tommy Amoeba, along with the Langley and Peabody high school marching bands and a group of bagpipers, provided the music.

Several people dressed as the "dryer lint guys" provided the laughs.

Among the watchers was Mari Baron, 10, of Squirrel Hill, who was enthralled by the puppets. New Year's Eve has always been a favorite holiday.

"You get to stay up late," she said. "And there's the feeling when the ball drops, it's a new year, and you get to refresh yourself."

Baron is going to wait a few days, however, before she implements her New Year's resolutions; She's reading the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens," and she needs school to start again before she can put her self-improvement plan into action.

Others took a more direct approach, with representatives of the state Department of Health circulating in the crowd encouraging smokers to sign a pledge to quit their habit.

Teams of two or three workers wearing T-shirts with "Quit Today -- Ask Me How" written on them approached smokers in the crowd and asked if they'd like to stop smoking. Smokers were offered written materials and a chance to sign a pledge to stop.

In addition, counselors will be contacting pledge signers in two weeks to ask how they're doing. The health department staffs a 24-hour, toll-free number for smokers trying to quit at 1-877-724-1090.

Davern and Eger made resolutions, too. Or, rather, had resolutions made for them.

They pulled fortune-cookie sized pieces of paper from what they called the resolution wall on Penn Avenue.

For Davern: "I will not cry."

For Eger: "I will be fabulous."

For Eger's father, Paul, courtesy of his wife, Linda: "I will make decisions."

"He's very indecisive," Linda Eger said. "I will ask him if he wants steak or chicken for dinner. And truly, we'll have nothing."

Everyone laughed.

As 2003 ended, it was nothing but fun.