In 2000, Islanders of all ages flocked to Vineyard Haven for Martha’s Vineyard’s First Night. From children conducting electrical trains to watching a fireworks display, about 1,000 attendees rang in the new year as part of this community tradition.
Twenty-five years later, Visit Vineyard Haven and the MV Youth Task Force (YTF) teamed up to revive the New Year’s Eve celebration and create another activity for young Islanders to enjoy.
Although attendance wasn’t as big as decades ago, about 40 people of all ages gathered at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven last Wednesday for various arts and craft stations, a DJ set, and complimentary clam chowder and doughnuts. The evening concluded with a “ball drop” outside the playhouse.
Taylor Stone, clerk of the Vineyard Haven Harbor Cultural District, one of the partner organizations of Visit Vineyard Haven alongside the Vineyard Haven Business Association, said that the idea of bringing back First Night came from community members at open meetings the group hosts during the off-season.
“The community was wanting it, and they were asking for it,” said Stone.
Although scaled down compared with past years, Stone said that this year’s early evening First Night was a sober and family-oriented option to typical New Year’s Eve festivities.
“This is definitely not the same as the First Nights that people know, but it’s at least something that’s happening in Tisbury that’s not focused around alcohol, available to all ages, and that’s on the earlier side,” she said. “People could still do their fancy dinner nights or go out to the bar afterward if they want.”
Lingering at the headband-making table with her two children, Giocchima Kuester, an artist from Oak Bluffs, joked about how her family stayed until the end of the night.
“Our favorite part has been decorating our headbands. That is one of the reasons why [the organizers] haven’t been able to put the stuff away yet,” she said. “We’ve managed to hit up every single craft table here, so I would call it a great success.”
Stone, who also plans the First Friday celebrations during the summer, sees First Night as another way to continue generating activity in Vineyard Haven during the off-season.
“I love the energy that Tisbury has been getting lately. It’s revitalizing and gathering interest, and more people are thinking about coming here,” Stone said. “The First Fridays are in the summertime, and we have a December one, too.”
Stone, an Island artist who specializes in cut-paper projects, painted an old mooring ball from the Tisbury harbormaster for the ball drop. She executed the drop after hoisting the ball to the playhouse’s upper window with a pulley system used for changing sets during theater productions.
“As an artist who has been doing more event stuff, it was fun to make something. It was a good merge between the two things I do,” she said. “[The ball] could be something that they could use years in the future.”
YTF Executive Director Angela Knapp said she became involved with the event because of her own memories of First Night.
“I remember going to First Night as a teenager, and it was something to do instead of being stuck home or waiting to be invited to a party,” she said.
Knapp, who was responsible for forming the event’s sponsorships, hopes that future First Night celebrations will balloon to the scale of years past. “A lot of community partners came together to make something fun for the community, and we’re hoping that that will expand and grow to be all throughout the town of Vineyard Haven,” Knapp said.
This year’s First Night was sponsored by Vineyard Haven Public Library, Queerhub MV, M.V. Community Services, Quitsa Kitchen, and Dip 02539.
Knapp, who grew up in New Jersey, emphasized how a lack of available gathering places for the Island’s youth during the winter months can lead some to partake in drug use.
“We had malls and roller rinks and all these different places you could go to connect with your peers outside school hours. We really don’t have a lot of that [on the Island,” she said. “It’s during those quiet and boring times that risky behavior and substance use [occur].”
Knapp thinks that the involvement of Island organizations in the revival of First Night will inspire other local groups to plan more community events.
“I like to imagine that those nonprofits coming together will extend the energy to the community as a whole to come together more in community events, and to continue to keep our Island a really safe, happy, and positive place for many people,” she said.
Actually the original First Nights were alcohol-free and family oriented. I remember walking from each venue to the next, with families being the entire focus. Somehow we managed to greet those years without alcohol. When it became more drink-inclusive we could no longer call it First Night, as Boston had originated that name while rejecting drinking as the focus. Nice to begin again!! Happy New Year, all!
Mary-Jean Miner