SUQUAMISH — As North Kitsap rang in 2007 with glitter and fireworks, the Suquamish Citizens Advisory Committee youth subcommittee took stock of its early New Year’s party and reevaluated a better way to entice the young population out to events in the new year.

Beat the Clock, a two-part bash the group hosted on Saturday, only drew a small crowd of children and teenagers despite the members’ effort to publicize and go all out for the event. Those involved, however, are maintaining a positive outlook on the subcommittee’s future with youth in the area.

“The community needs more stuff like this for kids,” said subcommittee member Glynis Burns. “Indianola always has events like this one, and they are very well attended because people expect them, people really appreciate them. We have to work our way up to that, and this is the start.”

The early afternoon section of the party boasted arts and crafts for children and younger teens, including creating noisemakers, goofy New Year’s hats, cattail mats, picture frames, decorating sugar cookies and a “clock” walk, similar to a cake walk but using the face of a clock instead, said subcommittee member Allie Barbosa.

“I got the idea for the hats from while I was in San Diego at a Cajun festival,” she said. “They were making all these wacky, crazy hats for people to wear. I thought it would be fun for the kids to do something like that.”

“Yeah, I’m having a good time,” said Natalie Ogburn, 11, while she and Burns worked together on a mat. “My dad told me about (Beat the Clock) and it sounded like fun. I decided to give it a try.”

Later in the evening, subcommittee members pulled out the karaoke machine and instruments for the second part of the event — an open mic night for teenagers. Though also not as well attended as hoped, SCAC and subcommittee member Frances Malone said the teenagers who showed up were more than interested in helping plan future events.

“The teenagers who did come expressed interest in future subcommittee plans because there isn’t anything else like this in Suquamish,” she said. “Really the only events around here that they can participate in are high school events, and that can exclude a lot of teenagers if they aren’t in high school yet. This will provide another way for teenagers to have something to do in their community.”

Despite the low turnout, Beat the Clock did exactly what the subcommittee members were hoping for — it spread the word to the Suquamish youth that a new group is looking to interact with them.

“Parents were really happy with the idea,” Malone said. “And the children and teenagers who came thought it was a really good idea. That was really positive for us, and we’ll keep working to make it happen.”

“I’ll probably come to another party,” Ogburn said while she put the finishing touches on her mat. “So far, it’s pretty fun.”