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Funds raised for First Night
YOUNGSTOWN — Featuring a wide variety of New Year’s Eve entertainment in the city’s downtown and Youngstown State University areas, First Night is an affordable, family-friendly, nonalcoholic celebration that offers something for everyone, its organizers say.
“For a $10 badge, where else in one evening can you get that level of entertainment if you had to buy a ticket to all of those different venues independently?,” asked Sandra Cika, First night marketing director. The $10 adult badge provides admission to all First Night events, she added.
Children 12 and under attend free; and students through college, military personnel, civil servants and senior citizens attend for $5.
Cika made her remarks at Sunday’s spaghetti dinner at St. Patrick Church on Oak Hill Avenue, which was a fundraiser for the non-profit First Night, which is celebrating its 10th year.
“It [First Night] gives families and individuals, young and old, and everywhere in between, a great time to come out and see what the city has to offer and get some of the best top-rate entertainment that the region has to offer,” said Bob Barko Jr., president of First Night’s board of directors.
“This gives the citizens of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley and the whole region a good event to go to annually in downtown Youngstown and see the wonderful venues that we do have,” said John R. Swierz, seventh ward city councilman.
“It’s something my son and I can do together,” and Mary Ellen Sassi of Canfield, who has attended five Youngstown First Night events. She and her 12-year-old son, Christopher, enjoy going to the museums, the planetarium and the Covelli Centre, she said.
“I’d love to see more people there,” and more food vendors staying open for the event, she said.
Between 4,500 and 5,000 people attended First Night Youngstown last year, Swierz said.
Although most of the event venues are provided rent-free, and city and YSU police and county deputy sheriffs provide security for the event, First Night’s budget of $30,000 to $50,000 each year pays for advertising, printing, entertainment and fireworks, Barko said.
The McDonough Museum of Art will be a new participant this year, and the Children’s Museum of the Valley will return as an event participant, Swierz said.
Other venues will be St. Columba Cathedral, the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, the Arms Museum, and the YSU Planetarium.
Ice skating will be available to those with First Night badges at the Covelli Centre, which will feature a band and a lighting show.
Among the entertainers will be the Classic Cruisers, a rock oldies band; Davis and McKay, a rock oldies duo; The Zou, a modern rock band; magician Eric Thompson; and Sterling Anderson, who sings adult contemporary, Broadway and Gospel music.
The Classic Cruisers will perform from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday on the MVR Club’s patio, 410 N. Walnut St., in the first of a series of many events leading up to First Night, Barko said.