First Night a hit

To the editor:
    The Presque Isle Downtown Revitalization Committee would like to thank all those responsible for making our second annual First Night festivities a success! As many of you know, this was our first attempt at staging this event downtown and we welcome any suggestions you may have to help make next New Year’s Eve bigger and better. 

    We had a steady audience for all our musical acts and dance performances at all three venues, the Northeastland Hotel, Turner Memorial Library and the Wintergreen Arts Center. At the hotel, the Hedrich family took care of everything, prepping the Red Room with its views of the star-raising and plowing the parking and pedestrian areas spic and span. Kim Lauritsen and her students at MoonDance Studios alternated performances all night long with Jim Wright and the Aroostook River Band.
    More than 200 people cycled through the library events. Curious George made his appearance in the Children’s Area starting at 8:00 p.m. and Jan and Evelyn Kok’s guitar duet “Songs from the County” started at 9:00 p.m. Many other musicians took a turn in the art gallery before midnight, including Doug Drew, Carol Ayoob, Melbourne Smith, Amy Marsh and Ryan Ashby. Storytelling and other readings were also provided in the art gallery, courtesy of the BREATHE Writers’ Group, Alice Bolstridge, Lloyd Archer and Robin Thurston.
    Tyler Wood of the Justin/Tyler Jazz trio performed at the new Wintergreen Arts Center on an electric piano on loan from the Aroostook Music Company. Only about 60 to 75 people made it to this “sneak peak” and tour of Wintergreen over the course of the evening so we hope anyone who hasn’t been will stop by soon or take part in some of their programming this year.
    Last but not least, about 120 people joined emcee Pat Patterson of WEGP 1390 for the star-raising out on State Street at the magic moment. The magic moment lasted a little longer than expected due to some technical difficulties on our part but the crowd was very forgiving! Finally, the increasingly well-known piece of hardware from the NMCC metal fabrication shop was raised aloft for the second annual Star-raising by the “Drivers” group from the Presque Isle Fire Dept using the City’s ladder truck.
    We offer our heartfelt thanks to all of the above as well as lead sponsor KeyBank, and many others. Again, if you have any suggestions for next year, please let us know! Look for the Presque Isle Downtown Revitalization Committee on Facebook or at www.pidrc.org.