When the digital clock rolls over to 12:00 tonight and the page on the calendar turns, we enter a sequence of time that will not appear again in this century - when the month, day and year are all the same: 12/12/12.

All over the world, parties are planned and people are marking a string of numbers most will never see again.

It is likely to be an especially fun time for those marking birthdays on this remarkable date, and Greene County has at least two youngsters who are creating an almost unheard of sequence: they turn 12 on 12/12/12.

For those of you who are handy at subtraction, you have already figured out that they were also millennium babies or born in the year 2000.

The only baby whose 12/12/2000 birth was in our archives as having been published in The Greeneville Sun was Natalie Hope Tolliver, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph (Gina) Tolliver of Mohawk, who arrived at Laughlin Memorial Hospital at 8:56 a.m., weighing seven pounds. The only other local child (of whom we are aware) to turn 12 Wednesday is Jax Latour, son of Tido and Lisa Latour.

Jax was born in Abingdon, Va., and was still a baby, about 1, when the family moved to Greeneville. Except for a couple of short ventures to other locations, the Latours have lived in the same house ever since.

Natalie is a sixth grader at McDonald Elementary School, and Jax is in the same grade at Greeneville Middle School.

Natalie was excited with her upcoming birthday, feeling that the sequence of numbers for her has always been special as she arrived at "the beginning of the 21st century."

Of his unusual birthday, Jax said, "I really like it, and I think it is really cool."

Both Jax and Natalie are planning low-key celebrations.

Natalie's will be mostly with her family, and Jax will celebrate with a party at his house.

His parents have already treated him to his present, a Disney cruise on the new Disney Dream back in October. He's already a cruise aficionado, and zest appears in his voice as he describes the travel he's done aboard ship.

The Latours live on a farm, and Jax raises chickens as a hobby and has started an egg business. "I really, really like animals overall," Jax said, and related the numerous ones at his home in addition to the rare breeds of chickens: turkeys, peacocks, dogs, cats, fish, turtles . . .

With his school interests focusing on social studies and science, Jax is looking forward to medical school.

Natalie has not yet made up her mind what career direction she will take because "there's a lot of stuff I really want to do."

She plays trombone in the band and is interested in science, history and law work.

For tomorrow, though, both will be marking their unusual birthdays with those closest to them and having, as Natalie said, "a great time, having time with friends and family."