Photos and Essay by Karen Tam
As the first seconds of the New Year are celebrated with the explosion of fireworks over Cincinnati's iconic Fountain Square, one has to wonder how to best spend this first day of 2011.
While football holds the attention of many, others begin the New Year investing in their newly minted resolutions. From the west side of the city to Sawyer Point along the river, runners shake loose the old year. One 60-year-old male meditates as he sits cross-legged on a picnic table in the quiet area of Green Township Veterans Park.
Others choose to follow family traditions or start a new tradition and take in the floral show at Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park.
To the untrained eye, it appears that exercise and spending time with friends and family are the huge winners of this, the first day of 2011.
For Stacy Smith, 21, his new year's resolution is to "be more family oriented." He seems to be starting the year off right as he wanders through Eden Park with Diane Coleman and their 2-year-old daughter, Kameire.
Senior Correspondent Karen Tam has been a photojournalist for more than 41 years. After 14 years at the News and Observer and The Raleigh Times in Raleigh, N.C., Tam started her freelance career. She has shot photos for Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post along with many local organizations and state newspapers.
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