Las Vegas rings in the new year

The New Year rolled in like a tank Monday night in Las Vegas - as in Ronnie "Tank" Campbell, a 315-pound truck driver from Fayetteville, N.C. Wearing only a diaper, top hat and white 2013 sash across his chest, he posed for pictures with a bowl for tips at the Fremont Street Experience downtown.

"I won first prize in the Halloween costume contest six times, so I thought I'd come to Vegas and be the New Year's baby," he said, taking a sip from his big baby bottle filled with piña colada.

His wife, Nicole, 32, shook her head with a smile.

"It's crazy, but I figure it would fit in Las Vegas," she said about their decision to drive west for the holidays in his 18-wheel "car hauler."

"He said, 'How much money do you think I can make?' But really, we're just here to have fun."

After 90 minutes, Ronnie had raked in "about thirty bucks," enough for another round of piña coladas.

Yes, the New Year's baby weighed in at 315 pounds, feather-trimmed showgirls sashayed downtown, free champagne flowed by the gallon on the Strip, Brits pub-crawled, cops posed for photos with tourists, people got married, Bible-thumping sin-chasers wandered the streets and the city rang in 2013 in style.

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People at The Cosmopolitan hotel were all-black dresses and bunny ears.

Some women ditched high heels as early as 9 p.m., choosing bare feet over sore toes.

But not Jen Unbe. Unbe - co-founder of Toronto punk band The Unbelievers - was slamming in an electric-blue dress and exquisitely detailed tattoos.

"It's my first vacation in years," Unbe said, beaming. "I said, 'I'm going to treat myself to Vegas.' "

Not far from her were Karl and Rachel Mcauley, in tux and wedding dress. They flew in from Birmingham, England, to get married Monday at Chapel of the Flowers.

The groom's biggest non-wedding thrill: Looking for Bellagio spots where Julia Roberts swaggered in "Ocean's Eleven."

"We walked down the street from Caesars and everyone was, like, 'Woohoohoo!' Totally bizarre," Karl Mcauley said. "You only get this in Vegas."

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Call it the champagne experiment, Vegas-style.

Erin Coates and Michael Beck were the ringleaders for their own mini-street party in front of Harrah's on the Strip, offering revelers a healthy dose of champagne from a 1½ -gallon plastic container. Six bottles of champagne were poured into the container adorned with roosters, happy faces and the word, "celebrate."

"We're doing this for science, because we're scientists," quipped Beck, 42, of Las Vegas.

The duo used noisemakers to get celebrators' attention and some accepted their offer, including Jose Gonzalez and Alan Jackson.

Coates, 27, of Las Vegas, held the container above Gonzalez's mouth and let the champagne fly.

After Gonzalez, who arrived via skateboard, swallowed a few mouthfuls, he asked, "That was alcohol? I thought that was apple juice."

Next up was the robust Jackson, wearing a colorful joker's headgear. He also enjoyed the free champagne and wished all a happy New Year's as he left with his pals.

A group of walkers holding giant "Jesus" signs came strolling by and Beck tried to entice them to grab a champagne drink.

"This is water that we turned to champagne," Beck told the religious sign-holders.

But they ignored the offer and continued their mission from God on the Strip.

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Miguel Parra brought a blue cooler on wheels that was converted into a music boom box to set up shop in the middle of the street between The Mirage and Harrah's Las Vegas. He invited revelers to dance to the music.

Navin Rangarajan, 28, from India entered the ring and did a hip-hop dance move.

"The music made me do it," Rangarajan said.

Then a roly-poly dude named Pancho moonwalked in the makeshift dance pit.

People chanted, "Happy feet, happy feet, happy feet," as Pancho did his steps.

Then police shut down the dance scene.

"We were having too much fun," said a relative of Parra.

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Four guys from Dubai - Khalid, Salah, Tom and Sam - held signs offering "Free Hug" to anyone who walked into their arms in front of The Mirage.

Justin "The Hugger" Cervantes, 29, of Chino Hills, Calif., took them up on their offer.

"Justin believes in Santa. He has a big heart for hugs," said Cervantes' sister-in-law, Victoria.

Then 15-year-old Ricardo Roman, wearing a Panda ski cap, hugged the Dubai Four.

"It's good for everyone," Roman said. "Everyone should get a hug, don't you think? It shows respect to the other race. It shows you care."

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For a dozen years, Don Delay and his wife, Del, have come early to the Strip to set up chairs in front of The Venetian to watch the fireworks. They were there at 10:30 p.m. as the crowd began to swell.

"Ten minutes before the fireworks, people stream out of the casinos and the Strip will be packed," Del Delay said as she nursed a silver flask of spiced rum, which she used to keep herself warm.

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Ahead of the fireworks display, the brother-sister duo of Efrain and Zaira Botello were doing a brisk business selling light-up eyeglasses, Mohawks, rabbit ears and necklaces.

Efrain, a senior from San Fernando High School in California, expected to sell out the three dozen of each item at 10 bucks apiece.

"This is big, fun, amazing," Efrain said in between sales in front of the Flamingo. "We'll sell out and we'll also cherish the moment."

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Noel Alvarado and his mother Cynthia were selling blinking Viking hats for a few minutes at the Flamingo intersection when a sheriff's deputy put an end to the business.

"You can't set up shop. You have to move," the deputy told the pair.

"Let's go," the son told his mom, pushing a baby carriage transformed into a cart filled with blinking Viking hats.

"We're going to Paris," he said and off they went, pushing their carts toward the casino, not the City of Lights.

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At 38 degrees under the Fremont Street canopy it was a bit too warm for Marty "the Pimp" Pritchard. When he and his ladies in red left Edmonton, Alberta, two days ago the Canucks were shivering at minus 36 degrees.

Monday was his 55th birthday, so they bought some roaring '20s costumes and headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas.

"I have four lovely ladies with me and they garner all my attention," he said.

Tagging along was "junior pimp" Jamie Delaney, 27, originally from Newfoundland.

"They got these flapper girl outfits and we said, 'Let's go to Vegas and do it,' " Delaney said, sipping a rum and Coke.

His New Year's resolution: "Drink more and more next year."

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Ah, Vegas loves its showgirls, especially on New Year's Eve.

Jeff Wilson, of Geneva, Ohio, wanted to pose with some Vegas showgirls and he got his chance Monday night on Fremont Street downtown .

"I'm sending this back to my boys," Wilson said with arms wrapped around thinly clad Mallory Huck and Julie Langille who are dancers in real life.

But on Monday night they donned showgirl outfits, headdress feathers and all.

"It's New Year's. It's Las Vegas. We want to promote showgirls and the comeback of Las Vegas and wish everybody in the whole wide world Happy New Year!" said Langille.

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The British community in Las Vegas celebrated New Year's Eve with their friends and family at Queen Victoria Pub inside the Riviera hotel-casino on the Strip.

The pub, which advertises as the only British owned and operated pub in Las Vegas, kicked off the festivities earlier than most so patrons could celebrate the New Year on British time, which was 4 p.m. local time.

"We've been doing it for the last three years," said head server Peter Grave, who hails from Yorkshire. "At 4 it was packed. Standing room only."

Celebrations at the bar included a band covering The Beatles, British news coverage of the New Year's countdown, and even a bagpiper playing until just before the British New Year.

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Las Vegas isn't thought of as a traditional family destination when it comes to New Year's Eve.

But families flocked to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve this year, defying the city's reputation for drunken debauchery.

"Seeing all the people all friendly and stuff. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,' said Adrian Sanchez, 21 of Modesto, Calif.

For Sanchez, it was his first New Year's on the Strip. He and several members of his family made the trek to Las Vegas Boulevard for the experience.

So what's so fun for the kids down on the Strip?

For Long Beach, Calif., resident Penny Jimenez, 15, who is here with her parents and younger siblings, the bright lights of the casinos and the Vegas-only fireworks show make it worth the trip.

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As drunken tourists taunted, sounded horns and cursed, 10-year-old Elias Guiterrez continued reading the message of Salvation from the Bible. Just a few feet away, Elias father, mother, and three sisters stood, passing out fliers and holding signs that proclaimed "Trust Jesus."

Adrian Guitterez said he and his family have come out to the Strip for the past five New Year's Eves. Although Adrian also preaches from the sidewalk at the Bellagio every Saturday, he said that New Year's Eve is the biggest crowd to reach.

"Sometimes people throw beer and ice, they act meanly but I don't respond," he said.

His ultimate message is to be available and remind others that God exists.

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The increased police presence on the Strip might seem a bit intimidating to many.

But it's hard to be intimidating when those officers are posing for picture after picture with eager tourists decked out in New Year's Eve gear.

"It just comes in waves,' said officer Chris Hall after having a photo snapped of him and his partner Chris Schallipp from their squad car. "One person catches on, and then they all catch on," he said.

So why a photo with the local police?

Sandrea Reveles, 20, of Santa Ana, Calif., summed it up simply, smiling and saying 'It's interesting.'

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Aj haneefah, a graphic designer from Los Angeles, set up shop in front of New York-New York. He said he comes to Las Vegas every year to sell memorabilia for the new year. This was his fourth year, this time selling light-up glasses, sunglasses and wristbands.

"It's the element of Vegas," he said. "The people, the atmosphere and the vibe make it worth coming down."

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Thousands of men, women and children from around the world hugged and kissed on the Strip as fireworks lit up the midnight sky, popping in synchronized sparks from the rooftops of The Venetian, Treasure Island and more.

After the show was over, a mob of people was briefly blocked from streaming back into The Venetian when a fence gate jammed in front of the casino. Finally, the gate opened and revelers slipped through.

"We're going over the 'fiscal cliff' one by one," a woman yelled, making a reference to a breakthrough in faraway Washington, D.C., where the Senate rang in the new year by passing a "fiscal cliff" bill.

Review-Journal reporters Doug Elfman, Colton Lochhead, Tara Verderosa, Alan Snel and Keith Rogers contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.