First Night Offices Robbed

Burglars broke into First Night Monterey's Archer Park Community Center headquarters Tuesday night, robbing the small nonprofit that stages the city's ambitious and art-heavy New Year's Eve celebration of their Mac computer and external hard drives, according to organization chair Ellen Martin. First Night rents the Archer Park space from the city of Monterey; the hard drives contained three years' worth of event artwork, photographs and videos, including a nearly completed public service announcement designed to attract community members to this year's smorgasbord of dance, visual arts, poetry, parade, hands-on art activities and live music. "Here we are giving it all to producing First Night," Martin said. "To break in and rob us and rob all of our artwork, desktop publishing and the two external hard drives which were the backups…it's all gone. "To rob a little nonprofit arts organization is just really low. It's crippling." The crime comes as First Night, which finances its multifaceted event and community outreach through fundraisers, ticket revenues, individual donations and grants, is 10 weeks away. Individuals interested in lending support can call 373-4778 or visit http://www.firstnightmonterey.org.