Born of the enthusiasm that was the Bicentennial, First Night celebrations across the nation are flourishing—practicing and positioning for the biggest wingding ever, the Millennium.

But communities don't want you driving to Chicago or St. Louis for the annual New Year's Eve party, nor do they think alcohol is essential. Instead of reckless merrymaking, communities now are thinking a riotous good time can be had quite safely sans alcohol, thank you. Not only that, the label "family oriented fun" that once signaled a sure kiss of death now packs a significant community-redevelopment wallop.

Indeed, First Night celebrations, offering every kind of performance and visual art imaginable, have been spawned in Chicago and St. Louis, and have migrated to some Chicago-area collar communities, including Evanston, Aurora, and Joliet and creeping over to Rockford. But they also have done very well downstate in communities such as Bloomington-Normal, Pontiac, Springfield and Godfrey.

Springfield claims to be the first community in the Midwest to launch a First Night celebration. First Night Springfield celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, said Mary Brock, executive director of the Springfield Area Arts Council. The event, budgeted at about $80,000, drew 9,000 participants last year. Brock said early surveys showed nearly 30 percent of participants come from outside the Springfield area and that more than half of those stay in an area hotel or motel.

About two dozen sites offer an array of talent at sites around the state Capitol, as well as sites nearby at several churches, the Lincoln Library and the old state Capitol. With a shuttle bus service connecting those areas, nobody has to walk more than a half block to attend any of the offerings.

Participants consistently say that the variety of talent is the best thing about First Night Springfield. Survey respondents said they enjoyed being able to see the inside of the present Capitol and old Capitol of Lincoln's era and other state buildings, many with similarly rich histories. They also like the fact that First Night is non-alcoholic and family oriented.

What participants like least, Brock said, is walking between acts outside in bad weather. That's where First Night in Bloomington-Normal has an edge. The celebration there, which will be 3 years old this year, is centered at Illinois State University, where the Bone Student Center, located on the campus' north side, can accommodate several acts under one roof. Some performances and art displays are located on the south side of campus and at the nearby Normal Theater, a short stroll or shuttle-bus hop away. (The Normal Theater had been shuttered for years and recently was refurbished and given new life as part of a down-

First Night was founded in Boston as an alcohol-free community celebration of the New Year, with "art, ritual and festivity" by artists as an alternative to traditlonal New Year's revelry. Its inaugural was in 1976 as a grand finale to the city's Bicentennial events. The founders' objectives were "to recapture the symbolic significance of the passage from the old year to the new, to unite the community through a shared cultural celebration; (and) to deepen and broaden the public's appreciation of the visual and performing arts." On Dec. 31,158 First Night celebrations are planned, 143 of them in the United States, arid 15 in Canada. Fifteen will be first-time celebrations. There are some residual objectives for their First Night celebrations, including increased sense of family and community. And, while the event provides an attractive opportunity for peple to "Just Say 'No,'" to alcohol, it also gives a needed shot in the arm to downtown revitalization. First Night International in Boston provides assistance to communities interested in beginning a First Night celebration primarily through an annual conference (in Monterey, Calif., March 16-18), technical assistance and consultancy. It can offer no financial support, however, and events using the First Night name must pay an initiation fee based on community population and annual membership dues, and comply with certain established standards. A meeting is scheduled in Washington, D.C, on April 6 to launch plans for the big one—the Millenium— 1,000 days before it arrives. More information is available from the international at (617) 357-0065.

8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JANUARY 1997

Revelers at First Night in Pontiac view fireworks through 3-D glasses while Philip Colan of Marquette Heights creates ice sculptures at First Night in Bloomington-Normal.

town revitalization effort.)

First Night in Bloomington-Normal drew 6,000 participants last year. "It's a great thing for families because there's something for all ages," said Karen Zangerle. As volunteer coordinator, her task is to find 400 volunteers to help with everything from checking buttons (purchased in advance as an admission ticket) and managing stages to serving food and working loading docks. For a couple hours of work, volunteers are given free food, soft drinks, a commemorative hat, and free admission to the performances.

"I think the neat thing is that a lot of families volunteer together," said Zangerle. "So you have Mom and Dad and the two kids all working in coat checks, or taking care of one of the rooms for two hours. And, it's a great way for single people to meet new people. We have a lot of friends doing it together."

Peg Hundley, who co-chairs the Blooington-Normal event, recalled the first meeting ever held to discuss the idea of a First Night. Those who put forth the idea of launching the event in Bloomington-Normal asked: "Okay, do we want to wait a year or can we get this done by December?" Hundley recalled. "We said we could get it done by December because we had enough people who believed in it and what it is, because it's alcohol free and the whole family's involved in it. It's a real safe celebration for New Year's Eve."

More than location and great weather, the most important commodity to the success of a First Night, she said, is attitude. "I think you just have to have a positive attitude and say, 'Yeah! We've got to get going!' " The essence of a successful First Night is getting people involved and keeping them enthusiastic about it.

Among the difficulties First Night organizers say smaller communities would have in launching a First Night celebration is finding enough corporate sponsors willing to put forth several thousand dollars to underwrite the event. Thirteen merchants and businesses signed on Bloomington-Normal that first year, committing $50,000 to assure a significant, and successful, first-year event. Enough money was generated to carry over to the second year and the budget there now is at $100,000.

JANUARY 1997 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 9

" I think the neat thing is that a lot of families volunteer together..."

Godfrey, where it's called First Night Riverbend, like Bloomington-Normal, enjoys the use of the local campus of Lewis and Clark Community College, where participants are mostly sheltered from the elements. Mary Gross, director of the event there, said the first event last year came close to breaking even, drawing about 2,000 participants on a budget of about $30,000.

In Pontiac, First Night is in its eighth year and attracts 3,000-4,000 participants. "We have people that come from Michigan and Wisconsin that come down here just for our First Night," said Pat Wahls, administrative assistant for PROUD (Pontiac Redeveloping Our United Downtown), the sponsoring organization. "They are return people, they come every year."

Karen Grim, program manager for PROUD said Pontiac is fortunate in that a local trust provides about $10,000 of the $30,000 budget for First Night.

Another concern smaller communities would have is finding talent. On the small end of the scale, Pontiac offers about two dozen acts or performers in about 50 performances, while on the higher end, Springfield boasts about 50 or 60 performers in about 130 performances.

Some communities positioned close together find they can share talent — a performer may perform early in Godfrey and then drive to St. Louis for a later performance.

Participants in Godfrey, for example, have told organizers that, although St. Louis offers a First Night celebration only about 45 minutes away, it's a pleasure not to have to drive so far.

While the talent might not be the same quality found in Chicago or St. Louis, it would be local talent—talent which doesn't often have any other venue by which to get started and talent which draws friends and family, and that's the point behind First Night.

But not all First Night celebrations have endured. Decatur offered a First Night celebration in 1990 and 1991, before scrapping it.

"Our board decided not to do it again because the weather was just too risky and it affected our success," said Louise Kidd, who at that time was executive director of the Decatur Area Arts Council, which sponsored First Night there. That event was held in a dozen different sites downtown and fashioned after Springfield's, where programs designed especially for children are scheduled in the afternoon free of charge. Decatur's first year budget was about $40,000, on top of the Art Council's annual budget of $170,000, but heavy snow and ice conditions resulted in a loss in the first year. Weather was better the second year, but still very cold and the event broke even.

"The community really liked it. I still have people say to me, 'Oh, First Night was one of the best things Decatur ever had.' We just had a board that wanted to do other things, take on other priorities," said Kidd. "It was not that the program failed, we just decided to put our priorities somewhere else."

"It is a lot of work. A lot of volunteer hours. A lot of people need to be involved In it. You have to really believe in it and want to get it accomplished," said Bloomington-Normal's Hundley. "It's a pretty cheap evening, when you think about it, for five bucks and six hours of entertainment. I'm always amazed at that. I just think it's such a good buy. "

During First Night in Bloomington-Normal, Pat Schley of Normal (far left) presents an historical portrayal of Sarah Davis, who was the wife of David Davis, an attorney nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Lincoln. A/so at First Night in Bloomington-Normal, Jim Gill of Chicago demonstrates "land surfing" to children of all ages.

10 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JANUARY 1997