The art of not drinking

Your guide to First Night activities and why you should care

BY DAVID SHANNON

Most holidays and other traditional annual events in America stick to typical methods of observance and celebration. And if doing kegstands and crawling into work late the next morning isn’t your cup of Champagne, there aren’t many choices for New Year’s Eve. But in San Luis Obispo, and in at least 200 other cities across the country, there is another option.

First Night became an alternative way to spend New Year’s Eve for Bostonians in 1976, and since then cities as big as Philadelphia and as small as Santa Cruz and SLO have joined Beantown in offering their citizens something different in heralding the new year.

Each First Night across the country operates as a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to engage the public in an alternative way to spend New Year’s Eve by incorporating a variety of art, music and multi-cultural events and traditions into an alcohol-free environment. SLO’s fourth annual First Night happens throughout the downtown area between 3 and 12 p.m. on Dec. 31. And even if Boston now boasts a 1 million-person turnout for its event, First Night SLO’s impressive 25,000 attendees in 2001 attests to the popularity the event has manifested among local citizens.

According to Sandy Barnhart, principal organizer for First Night SLO, "We’re changing tradition. First Night is something for children to remember other than baby-sitters and parents partying."

True to its intentions, First Night SLO does offer a lot for kids to do and see. The Central Coast Children’s Choir will perform, along with professional clowns, magic acts, puppet shows and an assortment of other children’s entertainers. New to this year’s event is a Countywide Youth Art Show, in which each school district selected four entries to hang in one of 10 participating galleries in downtown SLO from Dec. 1 through First Night. One entry from each gallery will be jury-selected for professional framing and displayed on New Year’s Eve during a reception for the young artists at the SLO County Courthouse 2nd Floor Atrium from 3-5 p.m.

While the kid’s stuff looks to last until about 9 p.m., entertainment for adults spans the entire event. The musical lineup ranges from the jazz of the Paul Rinzler Trio and the Creole Syncopators to the folk/acoustic sound of Belac & Posies, from the rock ‘n’ roll of Glider and JND, to Celtic, Latin, classical, gospel and theater. Also on the agenda are spoken word performances from such notable local artists as Catherine Ryan Hyde, whose original novel became the major Hollywood film Pay It Forward starring Kevin Spacey.

In fact, Ryan Hyde’s appearance will culminate in a challenge from the author to the community to "think of an idea to change our world and put it into action." First Night SLO is hoping that community members will report any ideas and actions created from this challenge, the results of which will be developed into a multi-media piece to be presented at First Night next year.

An interesting addition to the musical lineup this year may flesh out the hip alterna-types in SLO. Mary Ramsey, the new singer for alt-folk heroes 10,000 Maniacs, recently married local musician Sal Garza of Belac and Posies, and she is slated to perform with the band at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The viola-playing Ramsey will do three of her own compositions with her husband’s band, one of which will be a newer 10,000 Maniacs song. An international talent like Ramsey should be a formidable bonus to the night’s multi-faceted jubilee.

Also new to the event this year is a resolution piece called the Labyrinth. Participants will each carry a small light bulb, as a token of resolution, on a meditative walk through the Labyrinth, after which they will place the bulbs in a torch sculpture to be illuminated on the Finale Stage at midnight. The individual resolutions will then be joined as a symbol for the community’s resolutions as a whole.

Are you getting a sense of the positivity encouraged by this event? Not only do First Night organizers strive to deliver a diverse lineup of performers and happenings, they also urge people to get involved in causes in the community. Miss Teen Arroyo Grande 2002, Dania Bennet, a senior at Arroyo Grande High School, will be conveying a message about AIDS awareness to First Night, as well as participating in a play with Arroyo Grande High’s Drama Department, entitled Inner Circle, Changing Times. Presented at the SLO Little Theater on New Year’s Eve at 10 p.m., the play is open to all those who purchase a First Night badge.

In addition, during the week of Dec. 3, anyone who donated blood at the Tri-Counties Blood Bank received a free First Night admittance button. And the Boy Scouts of America has designated troops from SLO and Santa Maria counties to partner with First Night SLO in selling admission buttons, some proceeds of which will benefit local troops’ scouting activities in 2002. As a whole, First Night has attempted to make the event non-exclusive and affordable, while seeking to foster community spirit and interest in the arts.

According to Barnhart, artists themselves created First Night in Boston as an option to the usual excesses of New Year’s Eve, and, accordingly, she hopes that art and exposure to culture will be the lasting impressions people gain from First Night SLO. Volunteers were still needed as this article went to press, so interested parties should contact the First Night Volunteer Line at 781-6668. Æ

Arts intern David Shannon is working on New Year’s Eve.