Release Date: Thursday, December 24th 2009
First Night Akron celebrates new year with new attractions
12/24/2009 - West Side Leader
By Kathleen Folkerth
DOWNTOWN AKRON — Santa’s elves aren’t the only ones who have been busy recently. The staff of the Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) is getting ready for the 14th annual First Night® Akron, an event that will reflect changes made in response to community input.
The New Year’s Eve event in Downtown Akron, which features music, dance, theater and visual art entertainment, will take place Dec. 31 from 5 p.m. to midnight. Organizers from DAP have been busy tinkering in an effort to put new energy into the family-friendly, alcohol-free event.
According to Lisa Knapp, DAP communications director, First Night Akron organizers put a lot of effort into surveying attendees and residents this past spring.
“We wanted to get information about what people wanted out of the event,” Knapp said. “First and foremost, this is an event for the community.”
The survey showed that people love First Night but not the wintry weather that sometimes accompanies it.
“People really didn’t want to spend too much time outdoors,” Knapp said.
In response, organizers have tightened the footprint of the event this year so that it’s more compact. They also are stressing that most of the activities that are part of First Night are indoors.
The biggest changes are the move of the 9 p.m. and midnight countdown and fireworks shows to Lock 3 Park, and the addition of new venues Greystone Hall and the METRO Transit Center.
Other locations with events this year are the Akron Art Museum, Akron Civic Theatre, Akron-Summit County Main Library, John S. Knight Center, Lock 3, The Shoppes at Akron Centre, Summit Artspace and the Polsky Building.
As in previous years, METRO buses will offer free shuttles between venues.
Also new this year is the addition of special offers available to those wearing a First Night button at some local museums, stores and restaurants through January. Knapp said the idea came from First Night Boston, the oldest of the country’s 75 First Night events, which has used the discount program with great success.
First Night Akron buttons are required for admittance to First Night events. Children younger than 10 will be admitted for free with a button-wearing adult. Parking is free. Buttons are on sale at Acme Fresh Markets, some FirstMerit Bank branches, the Akron Art Museum, Akron Beacon Journal customer service desk, Borders Books and Music in Cuyahoga Falls, Carolyn’s Cupboard in Wadsworth, The Library Shop on Main, Lock 3 and the Stage Left Boutique at Akron Civic Theatre. Buttons also can be purchased at www.firstnightakron.org. The Web site also includes complete schedules of events and information on discount offers for button-wearers. For more information, call (330) 762-9550.
Here are a few highlights of this year’s First Night Akron:
• Laureen Michelle Caner describes Hey Mavis, the band she is in with her husband, Ed Caner, and Sarah Benn, as “modern old-timey.”
“When people see fiddle, banjo and upright bass, they think we’re bluegrass, but we have some more modern elements to our music,” she said.
In addition to performing at the Kids Countdown Show at Lock 3, starting at 8:30 p.m., the band will be on hand at Lock 3 for songwriting workshops at 5, 6 and 7 p.m.
Ed and Laureen Caner are artists-in-residence at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and conduct the workshops regularly, helping groups of people brainstorm to create a song together.
“We come in with a chorus and one verse already written,” Laureen Caner said. “The song is tailored to wherever we do our workshop. We have the workshop participants brainstorm on their ideas and their memories — what they see, what they hear, what they remember about Akron or First Night in the past. Once we have everyone’s ideas, we look at those and see what we can use to create verses for the song.”
She expects that one verse will be created at each of the three workshops. The entire song will be performed when the band plays later in the evening.
The Caners, the parents of two young children, said First Night is a great way for families to celebrate the new year.
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful event for people young and old to come together to celebrate,” Laureen Caner said. “There’s always so much going on. Really, it’s for everybody.”
• This year, First Night Akron Idol returns for its seventh year of competition. Chelsea Whitley, of Cuyahoga Falls, a student at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, is among the 12 contestants this year. The event will begin at 6 p.m. on the Main Floor of the John S. Knight Center.
The singing competition for high school students will take place at the John S. Knight Center from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
• Among the unique visual art offerings at First Night Akron is “Beneath the Land of Ice and Snow,” somewhat of a sequel to last year’s “The Land of Ice and Snow” created by artists Daniel Coffield and Kevin Smalley. This year’s creation, headed up by Coffield, of Stow, will be on display under the marquee of the Akron Civic Theatre.
Coffield said his entry last year was a large animatronic multimedia snow globe.
“This year, it’s an even larger animatronic multimedia aquarium,” said Coffield, an art major at The University of Akron.
The artist, who is the parent of two young children, said he was inspired to create this year’s entry by his family’s three aquariums. The installation is in the shape of an octagon that is 8 feet high and is on a 6-foot-wide base.
“For the First Night projects, I think about what I can do that would be appealing to both children and adults and still fall upon that fine-art line,” he said. “So you’re not just seeing a puppet show — it’s something that goes beyond that.”
Coffield said he’s happy to be able to participate in First Night Akron.
“It gives a family something to do that isn’t about going out and drinking and things like that,” he said. “The whole event, it’s about the community.”
• The Illusion Factory will perform “If You Take a Mouse to School” on the first floor of the Main Library from 8 to 9:30 p.m. The play includes Copley resident Nathaniel Montgomery playing The Boy.
• First Night Akron volunteers are still needed. Volunteers greet guests, check for admission buttons, introduce performing artists, assist with hands-on activities, act as bus hosts and much more. Volunteers are admitted free to all performances and sites before or after their scheduled shift. Friends, families and couples can volunteer together. Volunteers receive a special volunteer ribbon to wear at the event, as well as an invitation to the annual Volunteer Party held in January.
To become a volunteer, contact Jane Startzman, the First Night volunteer coordinator, at (330) 535-3179 or jstartzman@akroncivic.com.