Family-oriented parties disappear
First Night, the family-oriented New Year's Eve celebration that many communities have held since the 1970s, is dead in Passaic County.
The county's 16 communities will offer little more than the same auld, same auld Dec. 31 options, ranging from pricey nights out at local restaurants to gatherings of friends culminating with watching the ball drop in Times Square on television.
Yet, the nearby township of Montclair's First Night celebration will be bustling with enough activity to rival anything outside of midtown Manhattan.
The lineup includes a juggler, a ventriloquist and SpongeBob SquarePants to entertain children. Older folks will be dazzled by the European acrobatic troop Cirque Le Masque and The Fab Faux, a band that performs Beatles tunes with extraordinary authenticity.
The five-man act features musicians from David Letterman's and Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show bands.
Pat Brechka, Montclair director of recreation and cultural affairs, said tonight's celebration would be the township's 20th, although the municipal government made a concerted effort to develop the event during the past three years.
Last year's event cost $145,000 to produce, not including police and fire department overtime expenses, Brechka said.
The cost was defrayed by a $45,000 line item in the municipal budget and $56,000 paid by corporate sponsors, she said. Total income for the event last year was $185,000. Financial information about Monday's celebration was not yet available, she said.
But the real secret to the event's success, Brechka said, was the people behind it.
"You need a ton of volunteers," she said.
The first First Night celebration was held in Boston in 1976 as an alcohol-free public festival to mark the New Year with art, ritual and festivity, according to the Web site for First Night International.
The organization issued licenses to 131 cities this year to hold First Night celebrations according to its prescribed standards.
Participating communities must establish a local nonprofit to organize the events, performing and visual arts must be highlighted, and no alcoholic beverage companies are allowed to underwrite the celebration.
The number of local First Night communities has reportedly waned since 2000, after a period when interest in the events had built through the 1990s as the new millennium approached.
Scott Rumana, former mayor of Wayne, said the township had attempted a First Night celebration about 12 years ago, but the local nonprofit ended up losing money. The township had to step in to pay vendors and entertainers, Rumana said.
Rumana added that Wayne, a community without a definitive "downtown" area, was at a disadvantage.
"The way we're laid out, it just didn't work," he said. "A lot of people didn't buy into the whole concept."
Deborah Hoffman, Passaic County director of economic development, said communities with arts venues and a variety of restaurants were best suited for successful First Night celebrations.
While there hasn't been any data collected on the events' impact on local economies, Hoffman said First Night could serve as an engine to drive commerce for retailers.
"That kind of an activity is a great way to boost the profile of local businesses," Hoffman said.
Evelyn Malave, owner of The Corner Outlet in Clifton and founder of the Lakeview Avenue Merchants Association, has particular interest in the economic development power of a First Night event.
Malave, who said she would be in Montclair tonight, said Clifton's ethnic restaurants and music studios were among the reasons First Night could be successful in her community.
"It would be a perfect opportunity to showcase our city," Malave said. "Our diversity is what would really make it special for us."
_____________________________________________________________________________
