By Lauren Bishop
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sergey Shapiro (from left), of Newport, and Fernando Rico, Kristine Niergarth and Konstantin Rybalsky, all of Westwood, have a few drinks and listen to music at Neon's Thursday night before the bar turned its televisions on for the final Friends show. The Cincinnati Enquirer/STEVEN M. HERPPICH

At Neon's on 12th Thursday night, revelers celebrated spring - and said a sad farewell to a few close Friends.

Arts organization Enjoy the Arts/START, which sponsored the benefit party, decided they'd turn on Neon's TVs when they realized the event would fall on the same night as the series finale of 10-year-old sitcom.

Watching the hour-long clips show before the finale as a live band played outside, three friends said they came to witness the end of an era.

"I think it's definitely going to be strange not having Friends," said 23-year-old Suzanne Rutishauser of Pleasant Ridge. "When you grow up with something like that, it feels strange that it's not going to be there anymore."

Rutishauser, Ellen Peter, 24, also of Pleasant Ridge, and Gabriel Utasi, 26, a former Cincinnati resident now living in Fresno, Calif., said they thought the series would end with Ross and Rachel getting back together.

Last week's show ended with an impulsive kiss between Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). Her decision to take a new job in Paris sent Ross, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her baby, into a tailspin. In another cliffhanger, the mother of the baby Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) plan to adopt went into labor.

Across the Tristate and the country, people were glued to their television sets to witness the end of Friends. One fan, 23-year-old Sarah Hunterman of Norwood, invited about 10 people to her small apartment, where she served pizza (Joey's favorite) and real chocolate she's pretending is Mockolate (the chocolate substitute Monica experimented with in season two).

This season saw big changes for the now 30-something friends living in New York City. Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) married Mike (Paul Rudd), whom she met last season. Monica and Chandler got the OK to adopt a baby and bought a house in the suburbs. The fate of Joey (Matt LeBlanc) has been known for some time; he's getting his own sitcom - simply called Joey - on NBC this fall.

If you missed the last episode, don't worry: You can pre-order a DVD of the finale - which includes the original pilot and behind-the-scenes material - on the Warner Home Video Web site for $9.95. It will be available in stores Tuesday .

E-mail lbishop@enquirer.com