A few observations about First Night Morris 2018:
This had to be the coldest New Year’s Eve in the 26-year history of the event.
To those hardy revelers who braved the single-digit temperatures, we salute you! You were rewarded with superb entertainment. We will share videos as soon as we thaw out.
Our MVPs of the evening? The ladies at the Masonic Lodge, who served hot chocolate and delicious home-made chocolate chip cookies to fortify everyone for the Polar blast.
As for the fireworks…less is more! At least, when the wind chill ventures into subzero territory. Tee up the grand finale: Boom, boom, boom!
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
Most folks appeared to have a good time, thanks to fleece and down.
“Cold doesn’t keep us out,” said Patrice Paolella of Madison, who brought sons Massimo and Rocco Sansiviero, 6 1/2 and 5, respectively.
They dressed for Antarctica. “We have layer upon layer,” Paolella said, inside the toasty confines of Lego Land at Morristown High.
Lynn Liptak of Wayne came to Morristown with her sister and a date.
“We signed up before we knew how could it would be. It was worth it. It’s a great time,” she said after having her face painted at the Masonic warming station.
Where else could you hear the Great American Songbook, and a didgeridoo concert?
Susan Allen and Brian Horowitz traveled from South Bound Brook for the frosty festivities.
“It was hard to choose among all the artists. They had so much, we’ll have to come back next year,” said Allen.
“Twenty-five dollars buys you a lot,” Horowitz said.
Mark Isganitis and his companion Esther bundled up and made the trip from Nutley. They were looking for something different on New Year’s Eve.
“We’re not Times Square kind of people,” explained Isganitis. They started the night by watching Korean Dance at Morristown High School, and singer-songwriter Christine DeLeon at the Market Street Mission.
“It’s really nice, despite the cold. The buses help,” Esther said of the free First Night shuttles.
The countdown to 2018 and midnight fireworks was an intimate affair, peopled by a cluster of brave souls on the frozen Morristown Green.
“I can’t feel my face,” said Will Campos, a Marine from Wharton.
“I’m growing icicles!” added Nicole, one of his relatives.
She joined other family members in some impromptu dancing that was part celebration, part survival exercise.
The New Year can only get warmer, right?
