SALT LAKE CITY -- It had more fanfare and less pop than the latest Star Wars movie.
But anxiety gave way to Auld Lang Syne after midnight Friday, a welcome relief for those like Sen. Bob Bennett, who heads a Senate Committee on the Year 2000 computer problem."The best-case scenario came true," Bennett said.
"We also had a worse-case scenario outlined, and the normal assumption with things of this kind is it will be neither. This surprised us by not being in between."
Bennett was especially surprised at the lack of computer problems in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. But he says Y2K still could be a lurking problem, as some computer clocks that can't recognize the new century begin to corrupt databases.
And some Y2K fixes were only temporary, Bennett said, and will need to be fixed again.
Still, Bennett called overall Y2K preparations a success.
And it was smooth sailing for hospital workers who helped deliver babies during the turn of the century.
Natalie Shepard gave birth to a 7 pound, 21-inch girl just a half-second after the stroke of midnight at Cottonwood Hospital in Salt Lake City. She and her husband, Rick, named the girl Brinnley Millenni Shepard.
Hospital spokesman Jess Gomez says both mother and daughter are doing fine.
The last Utah baby of 1999 was born at 10:44 p.m. to Mie-Kyong and James Brown at St. Marks Hospital. The couple named their 8-pound, 21/2-ounce son Landon James Brown.
The Salt Lake City-County Health Department gave the new family a package of gifts including a car seat, immunizations, a home childproofing kit, postnatal checkups from a nurse and other health products, all valued at more than $850.
First Lady Jacalyn Leavitt was at LDS Hospital to hand out copies of "Read to Me," her book for children.
"Learning begins at home, and parents are a child's first teachers," said Utah's first lady. "I hope this book will encourage new parents to read early and to read often to their children."
The passing of Y2K could mean a return to normal for companies that sell dehydrated food and emergency supplies.
Business was brisk in the days leading up to the new year, said Roslyn Niebuhr, office manager of Preparedness Resources, with many people paying extra for quick delivery.
But company owner Scott Sperry says nobody who bought emergency supplies wasted their money just because civilization didn't grind to a halt.
"Our whole concept is being prepared not just for one specific event but being prepared for anything," Sperry said. "If Y2K doesn't become a problem then you're prepared for the earthquake of 2003 or the flood of 2010."