Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 1, 1992 TAG: 9201010217
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FIRST NIGHT FOCUSES ON FAMILY FUN
His fingers dripping with white Elmer's glue, Chuck Shepard helped his
daughter Jessie, 2, attach the cut-out eyes to her paper-bag puppet. The
table where they worked in the Virginia Museum of Transportation exhibit area
was the first stop in a New Year's Eve odyssey of family entertainment at the
first First Night Roanoke celebration.
"We're glad to see something like this" alcohol-free, family oriented
alternative for New Year's Eve, Pam Shepard said, as she helped 5-year-old
Niki with her puppet.
The $16 it cost to buy the family's admission buttons to the event was a
bargain compared to what it costs to hire a baby-sitter and go out to eat, the
Shepards said.
They were among the earliest arrivals Tuesday night for the festivities in
and around the transportation museum.
Within the first hour, most of the performance and crafts areas were packed
with standing-room-only crowds.
Wendy Shultz, First Night's executive director, said she did not have
information on advance button sales. By 8 p.m., though, she said she was
pleased with the turnout and the smooth operation of the festival.
There was a brief shortage of one brand of soft drink, but vendors semed to
have plenty of food, drink, candy and party favors - including hats and
noisemakers.
A 35-foot inflated penguin and a 45-foot inflated nutcracker guarded the
two blocks of Norfolk Avenue closed for the festival. A squadron of Roanoke
police officers and private security guards checked for the blue and white
entrance buttons.
Billie Buchner of Vinton was thankful for a place to bring her
granddaughter and her friends from Staunton River School "without having to
worry about drunks being around."
"Teenagers need something to do" on New Year's Eve, she said. Her
granddaughter, Amanda Smith of Bedford, worked with Kelly Payne of
Stewartsville and Amanda Spradling of Moneta on adding color to a giant
Chinese dragon mural.
Richie Cannaday, a fourth-grader at Oakland Intermediate School, was
dressed for the night in a sparkling, personalized dress coat created by his
mother, Gwen.
Using supplies provided in one of the festival's giant tents, Richie "made
me this princess-type party hat," Gwen Cannaday said, while she created a more
Santa-like red-topped cone - complete with bells - for him.
Though it was too cold to anticipate staying until midnight, Richie said,
he had enjoyed everything.
Gwen Cannaday said she always is eager to support this kind of activity in
the city and "I thought this would be fun."
She was especially impressed with the Blondie and Dagwood cartoon
characters who mingled with the crowd during the early festival hours.
The event was scheduled to come to a grand conclusion at midnight with the
lowering of a 30-foot-wide fireworks-blazing "Happy New Year" sign on the side
of the new Dominion Tower.
Additional fireworks were planned, as well as a live big-screen television
picture of the festivities in New York's Times Square. There also was to be
free sparkling fruit juice for the traditional midnight toast.
The First Night concept began in Boston 15 years ago and now is used in
more than 80 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
Local groups, such as Roanoke's sponsoring Festival in the Park, pay to use
the First Night name and receive planning and other assistance from the Boston
headquarters.