NUEVO TRADITION: Tucson Friends of Traditional Music offer a different type of New Year's, replacing heavy boozing with plenty of fancy footwork. An open band sporting the city's best folk musicians will provide the backdrop for lots of contra dancing and other steps, says TFTM's Becky Nankivell. "It will be old-time string music," she says, "and a bunch of different dances. We think it will be a lot of fun, and good exercise to boot--though I hope that doesn't scare a lot of people off." There will also be potluck munchies and a non-alcoholic toast at midnight, she says. Celebration runs from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 824 N. Second Ave. Attendees are requested to park in the lot at the corner of Second Street and Second Avenue. Admission is $6, $5 for TFTM members. Call 327-1779 for details. HISTORY AFOOT: The Arizona Historical Society offers tours of downtown districts that were making the hobnobbing scene before Mayor George Miller was even a twinkle in his mother's...okay, maybe not that long ago. Still, the city center was home to Tucson's pioneering upper-crust, and the van tours take in Barrio Historico, Armory Park, Congress Street and El Presidio neighborhoods. Premier among the stops is the Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont House Museum, which curator Fred McAnnich says is stocked full of antique holiday goodies through January. "It's really a territorial Christmas exhibit," he says. "We have a Christmas tree with antique ornaments, toys and other gifts that were probably given more than a century ago." Among the gifts--all donated by local frontier families--is a five-foot-long replica fire truck from the 1920s. "It's a big toy, and everything on it works, the ladder and all the other equipment," he says. Van tours are 9 to 11 a.m. on the fourth Friday of each month. Cost is $12 per person, and reservations are required. Guided walking tours begin at 10 a.m. Saturdays. Cost is $4 per person, and reservations are recommended. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday at the Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont House Museum, 151 S. Granada Ave. Call 622-0956 for information. HOMEGROWN: Tucson artists Young Zalnerowitz and Barbara Lewis display a variety of powerful pieces at the Murphey Gallery. "Young works in oils, particularly landscapes and still-life," says Murphey spokeswoman Betty Dunlop. "She's had 15 years of painting experience. Barbara, on the other hand, does watercolors. They're somewhat abstracted florals and stylized landscapes." Exhibit runs through January 23, with an opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, December 29, at the Murphey Gallery, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. Regular gallery hours are 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. For details, call 299-1816.

		© 1995-97 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth