Parade, fireworks to highlight First Night

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December 30, 2010

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu Dec 30, 2010, 08:29 AM EST

ONEONTA _ First Night will present a parade, performers and fireworks Friday to usher in 2011.

Activities will start Friday afternoon, and the schedule under the Imagine! Oneonta theme will feature 45 performers, musicians, dancers, storytellers and other entertainers at more than 15 sites downtown, according to www.imagineoneonta.com.

Entertainment will range from storytelling to drumming and concerts of rock, bluegrass, jazz and swing music and more. Puppet shows, comedians, jugglers and dancers also are set to take stages at downtown venues, organizers said, and at midnight, church bells are to ring in the New Year.

But volunteers are still needed to help with many tasks, including checking admission buttons at venues, setting up or breaking down property at sites or carrying a puppet in the parade. Organizers said anyone interested in helping may sign up online through the website or by calling 267-4193.

Volunteers are asked to help for 90 minutes and will receive a free button, organizers said.

Event Chairman Mark Drnek said many individuals, businesses and institutions have stepped in to help a "strong organizing committee" revive First Night and make this year's event the biggest in local history. Through volunteers and in-kind support, organizers were able to reduce the budget from $55,000 to $35,000, he said Tuesday.

First Night Oneonta isn't supported financially by tax dollars, Drnek said, and button sales help to offset costs. Buttons cost $15 per person, but to encourage family participation, children 12 and younger are admitted to venues free of charge.

Many merchants are selling buttons, which also will be available at venue doors.

New this year will be a "Wii Bowling Tournament" at the Green Earth on Market Street between 6 and 10 p.m., Drnek said. Drogen's has donated the use of a big-screen television, and the Holiday Lanes Bowling Center purchased the Wii, which will be the prize for the winner.

First Night is a community celebration of the New Year through the arts. According to the Future for Oneonta Foundation Inc. website, the event started in Boston in 1976 to bring the neighboring communities of the city together in a celebration while providing the public with an alternative way of ushering in the New Year.

Drnek said he was a co-founding chairman of the first celebration held in Oneonta in 1997 and was involved until 2000. The event is back after a three-year absence.

The First Night Oneonta Steering Committee received approval from the IRS on its nonprofit 501(c)3 status, Drnek said, and from the First Night National to rejoin the ranks, making Oneonta's event one of six in the state.

Drnek said there is a lot of interest in the local revival. "We haven't had anything but positive comments," he said. And the number of First Night friends on Facebook has been growing, he said.

Main Street downtown will be closed to traffic in the afternoon through midnight, Drnek said. About 50 community groups, businesses and organizations have signed up to participate in the parade, which will be at 5 p.m., earlier than in previous years.

Fireworks will be at 10:11 p.m., and viewers may go to the top of the municipal parking garage or the Clarion Hotel parking lot off Market Street to see the pyrotechnics, Drnek said.

From 10:30 p.m. until about midnight, musicians and other performers will entertain at the ShowMobile on Main Street near Muller Plaza. At 11:55 p.m., Mayor Dick Miller will make a toast, and cups of sparkling cider will be available to join the salutations, Drnek said.