How was your (hopefully long) weekend, Memphis? This week, more than most, is a time of change – of renewal, of turning the page, starting over. And of course, a time to ask the annual question: What are we going to do on New Year’s Eve?

Overton Square and Broad Avenue have reason to celebrate as 2015 has been a banner year for the revived arts neighborhoods. This year, Overton Square reached 100 percent occupancy and Broad as a destination continued to grow with a number of the openings including the Rec Room, City & State and Falling Into Place.
Broad Avenue will host its first New Years Eve bash as the street will be closed from Collins to North Bingham with plenty of music and dancing.
Overton Square will be having a block party with Madison Avenue closing from Cooper to Diana. Enjoying live street music, Memphians can travel from stop to stop as the area’s restaurants and bars will be open late. And Loeb Properties said that it has a surprised planned for the midnight countdown.
Beale Street is trying something new this year with a New Year’s Eve Fast Pass that offers free admission and no waiting in lines. The limited passes are priced at $100 and grant speedy admission into clubs like Alfred’s, Silky O’ Sullivans and Club 152. Festivities will begin at 7 p.m. with live music in Handy Park, a visual countdown broadcasted on the FedExForum Plaza jumbotron and Hard Rock Cafe’s guitar drop when the clock strikes midnight.
As always, The Peabody also is ready to help you celebrate New Year’s Eve. Ring in 2016 at the South's Grand Hotel and plan to spend the night after the ball drops on a New Year. Live music and parties throughout the hotel from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Starry Nights' Starry 4k Run/Walk returns to Shelby Farms Park Monday, giving attendees a chance to race through the park's annual holiday light show. All proceeds from the event benefit the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the park and greenline.

JIM STRICKLAND

The main political event of the week comes Friday, New Year’s Day, with the oath of office ceremony for Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, the 13 Memphis City Council members elected and re-elected in 2015 and new City Court clerk Kay Robilio. The ceremony is at noon at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
Friday is the first day of the four-year term of office for city elected officials, although the first meeting of the new council won’t be until Jan. 5. Between now and then there could be more appointments by Strickland to his administration, which still lacks a parks division director.

Across the Main Street Mall, the Vasco Smith County Administration Building has a new display on the history of Collierville that includes a toy rocking horse made by the Wonder Horse Co. Collierville was once known as the home of Wonder Horse. The exhibit in three cases in the lobby of the county building also includes items from Collierville’s past as a center of dairy farming.
The artifacts collected by Collierville’s Morton Museum and Main Street Collierville include photos of several queens of Collierville Cheese Carnivals from 1935 to 1940 as well as a three-legged stool, a milk surger and milk bottles. And what would an exhibit on the history of Collierville be without something from McGinnis Hardware? In this case the items are an apron and wrench.
The Collierville exhibit runs through May and is the first in a series of exhibits at the county building on the history of the six suburban towns and cities in Shelby County.

Some super heroes and villains are helping to usher in the New Year at FedExForum this week. Marvel Universe LIVE! is bringing an epic show to Memphis featuring favorite Marvel Super Heroes including Spider-Man, The Avengers - Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and more, plus sinister villains come to life in a live, action-packed arena performance.
The show features special effects, pyrotechnics, aerial stunts, martial arts and motorcycles. The performance schedule is 7 p.m. on Friday; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday; and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets for Marvel Universe LIVE! are available now. Visit ticketmaster.com for information and pricing.

But before the super heroes take over, the FedExForum and the Grizzlies will be in action with a 7 p.m. game Tuesday vs. Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat at FedExForum. Earlier that day, the University of Memphis opens American Athletic Conference play with a noon game vs. Tulane.

Another big Memphis sports ticket happens Saturday, when Arkansas takes on Kansas State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl at 2:20 p.m.

A new executive will be settling into the big office at The Orpheum in a matter of days. Brett Batterson, the organization's new president and CEO, officially takes the reins on Jan. 1, with his first official day set for Jan. 4.
He's the top executive replacing Pat Halloran at the Memphis Development Foundation, which operates the Orpheum Theatre and Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education. The end of this year marks the retirement of Halloran, after 35 years in the position. Batterson joins the Orpheum from the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

The biggest change of all this week, of course, has to do with the calendar. From individual homes to celebrations at Overton Square, on Beale Street and elsewhere, Memphians will be getting together with friends, looking back at the year and reminding each other that none of us seem to ever know any of the words to Auld Lang Syne.

Be well, and we'll see you all on the flipside.

The Daily News staff compiles The Week Ahead for you, our readers, every week. You'll receive it as part of our Monday online edition. Email managing editor Jane Donahoe, at jdonahoe@memphisdailynews.com, if you have items for consideration.