Old times not forgotten

First Night Scranton: Sat., Dec. 31, 6 p.m., Courthouse Square, Scranton. $10, $5 seniors, under 5, free. For full schedule/list of entertainers, visit firstnightscranton.com.

Booze. Late-night celebrations. General debauchery that will leave a person hurting in the morning. These are usually the fundamentals of a rockin’ New Year’s Eve. But for those with little ones in tow or wild sides to keep in check, there’s another option for ringing in 2012: First Night Scranton.

The alcohol-free, family-friendly event will take place for the 13th year Saturday, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. on Courthouse Square, offering an alternative to the traditional alcohol-soaked ideal of the holiday.

“There aren’t many options for families and younger people to do things on New Year’s Eve,” said Doug Smith, entertainment chair of this year’s event. “You can either go to a bar and there’s alcohol and all that stuff, or you just stay home and then you’re not going out to do anything. So it’s a great thing for families to do and for teenagers to be able to do on their own.”

First Night is a trademarked event held all over the country, promoting arts, culture and family activities. First Night Scranton was established in 1998 by Scranton Tomorrow and was turned over to the city in 2008. Now, it’s a nonprofit run by volunteers that relies on fundraising and corporate sponsors.

“After 10 years (Scranton Tomorrow) felt it was time to have someone else pick up the event,” said Paige Balitski, co-chair. “And so the city stepped in, and the mayor put together some folks and gave a two-year commitment to give this group the time to go and do all the paperwork for a 501(c)(3) status, and get on their own feet. So this is the first year that we are totally on our own.”

DOWNTOWN ON DISPLAY

This year’s theme is “Rock In New Year’s Eve,” which is a turnaround from last year’s Victorian-inspired affair.

“Last year we did something very elegant,” said Balitski. “It was all very heavy costumes, very sophisticated entertainment, that sort of thing. This year, it’s been a tough year on a lot of people. We just wanted to party, so that’s why we picked rock ’n’ roll.”

While some of the musical entertainment will be rooted in today’s culture, the general theme will focus on music through the ages, especially the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

“We tried to fit 90 percent of the entertainment, as far as the musical part of it, into a timeline covering roughly from probably the 1940s up until now,” said Smith. “And we tried to really have a high-quality representation of each decade or so.”

One current group will be Jung Bergo, a folk-rock band based in Scranton that will perform on the showmobile outside near Courthouse Square for the countdown to midnight. This year’s fete will be the second for the band.

“We try to reflect our appreciation of Scranton, so there’s no better way than to actually be involved in this event itself,” said vocalist and guitarist Jeremy Burke.

The evening’s entertainment is slated to include a wide variety of other artistic ventures, including magicians, poets and even a fortuneteller. Admission buttons are $10 ($5 for seniors the day of and free for children under five) and include everything, even horse-drawn carriage rides, with the exception of food.

“No matter what the theme, we do as much as we can for kids,” Smith said. “So we have a lot of face painters and balloon guys and caricature artists, and we’re doing a lot of children’s stuff at the mall this year.”

Generally, venues donate space for First Night Scranton, allowing the event’s volunteers to use their hard-earned budget for other resources. The Mall at Steamtown, AFA Gallery, Elm Park Church and Vintage Theater are among those locales.

“It’s great exposure for us to get a lot of different people in and out, and we just like to support whatever’s going on in Scranton,” said Theresa O’Connor, co-director of Vintage Theater, who noted that this is the venue’s third year participating. “We feel like all these types of things, like First Night and First Friday, are really great to help not only our business but other businesses.”

According to Balitski, who has taken part in 11 of 13 First Nights in Scranton, it’s usually worth the effort to consider taking part.

“Many (businesses) have been on board since the beginning, they look forward to it every year, but we actively go and knock on doors, to all the new businesses in downtown,” she said. “We explain who we are … why we think it’s important that they become involved in this event. A lot of the new businesses, it gives them the opportunity to have people discover them for the first time.”

WEATHER OR NOT

As purveyors of the behind-the-scenes action, Balitski and Smith rarely have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Smith, who is a full-time musician and has been involved in First Night Scranton in one capacity or another since its beginning, typically performs at another venue on New Year’s Eve.

“What I do is work all year to help put this together, and then that day we go down and make sure everything’s all set, and then I just cross my fingers,” he said, laughing.

Balitski is usually caught up in a flood of preparations, so any chance for her to take in something simply for the enjoyment of it is pretty limited.

“Last year was the very first year that I actually got to go outside and go to a couple of venues just to see how people were doing and general attitudes, and it was wonderful,” she said.

Both Balitski and Smith acknowledged that, while public attendance has grown over the years, the biggest barrier is still what’s on the barometer.

“The only problem we have, generally, is the weather,” Smith said. “Most of the venues are inside, and they’re completely safe and everything, heated, but still, if there’s a little snow, some people just don’t want to travel.”

Whether or not weather will be an issue this year, Balitski remains optimistic.

“I think First Night is the type of event that once you go, you become a fan,” she said.

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