First Night Bradford 2006 helped to get the year off to a great
start with between 1,700 and 1,800 people coming out for the local
New Year’s Eve festival of the arts.

First Night Bradford 2006 planning committee chairperson Chuck
Brooks said Sunday that $7,000 in buttons (tickets), or 1400
buttons, were sold Saturday night alone. Brooks said the total
number of buttons sold was “probably between 1,700 and 1,800.”

About the same number of patrons attended last year’s
celebration. There are 2,000 buttons available each year.

Brooks explained that as a member of the planning committee, he
tries to get to every venue and performer throughout the night.

“I got to four or five myself and watched the shows,” he said,
adding “it was hard to miss all the smiling faces and people,
especially the kids, enjoying the performers.”

Comic conjurer David Rojahn, ventriloquist David Carr and
Jason’s Frog Show seemed to be the big hits with the children,
Brooks said.

He went on to say the First Night Bradford planning committee is
set to meet Friday, when members will start to evaluate this year’s
venues and performers and make a plan for next year.

He said it was too early to say what might change for First
Night Bradford 2007.

As Brooks, former executive director of the Bradford YMCA, and
his family are leaving Bradford at the end of the week, he will not
serve as chairman of the planning committee next year, he said. It
was still uncertain who would take over, he said, but added it was
likely that First Night Bradford entertainment coordinator Darla
Oaks would replace him.

“Everything went great,” Brooks said. “There were great
performances and a lot of new types of acts.”

“I think it’s a sign that we did well when you hear people
complaining they can’t get to everything they want to see in time,”
he laughed.

First Night is a nation-wide, drug and alcohol-free New Year’s
Eve celebration of fine arts.