“I tell my volunteers that I’m such a goofball,” Ellen Martin says.
If Ellen Martin has a trademark, it might be whimsical and earnest enthusiasm. It propels her to say the unexpected, to consider wild ideas, to rave with positivity. She studied ceramics and sculpture in college. Later she was a marketing consultant, working on magazines, newsletters and conferences for clients like Hewlett-Packard. “I love marketing and events and putting together programs, because I am a producer,” she says. “I like processes. That’s how running a nonprofit is.”
She’s been leading the legions of performers, artists, volunteers, vendors and other New Year’s Eve celebrants of First Night Monterey for 12 years. But she’s involved in lots of other community enterprises, like Summer Day Art Camp, ArtWorks! Outreach, the Greenfield Harvest Festival and the Greenfield Cultural Arts Center, where she tells kids, “Twenty-five years from now you’re going to tell [your kids], ‘Look what I did.’”
Weekly: Congratulations on getting a Champion of the Arts award from the Arts Council for Monterey County.
Martin: I’m not sure it’s deserving. Somebody nominated me. I am the “Luminary.” What is that? I have to look it up. I think it’s someone who shines the light on art programming.
What’s special for this 25th year of First Night Monterey?
I would say every single act and band and performance and activity is special. We really wanted to have the dramatic, the magical. We have artists using light and manipulation, LED-illuminated props.
How many volunteers does First Night utilize?
On the night of, we need 100-125 who will work for four hours. I was at a farmers market and saw a man walking alone and I asked him what he’s doing on New Year’s Eve. He said, “Why?” I said, “You don’t have to be alone. Come join us.” His wife had died eight months ago. Volunteers eat together, work together, they might say, “Hey, let’s go see the Black Irish Band.”
What’s the hardest part of the job?
Juggling funding. First Night goes dark when the municipalities don’t support them. Case in point: Santa Cruz. The city decided it didn’t see the value of [funding First Night]. The first year they stopped, the [city] spent more money on policing on New Year’s Eve. The city of Monterey decreased our funding by 50 percent. I don’t know why.
Who did you get in the programming that appeals to teens and young adults?
The light art, the Cirque du Soleil-type program. We have rock groups The Coffis Brothers, Mountain Men. The art car. The Best Buy Just Dance venue. Making a poem on the wall. The food truck.
At what point can you relax during First Night?
If I look from the stage at the finale and see a sea of families together, ready to celebrate the New Year, I’m like “OK. That might be a job well done.”
How long do people stay after the countdown?
Five minutes and we push them out the door. Ha-ha! The venue people have to work for another hour. I’m usually the last person to leave.
Do you encounter drunk people coming out of the bars?
Yeah. I’m always amazed and worried about how those people are getting home. Especially the girls. After 1am it’s hard sometimes for our food trucks to shut down because the kids from the bars are buying food from them.
Are there any odd rules of the First Night International organization?
Some [First Nights] have a kids finale. Some start at 8pm. Next year’s going to be a big change – I don’t know how – if the city is not going to keep up a level of funding to help us sustain the event.
And there’s no alcohol.
We’re downtown, for God’s sake. Go into a restaurant or bar. That’s what volunteers do afterward.
If you weren’t doing First Night, where would you be spending New Year’s Eve?
I don’t know. I’d want to go hear some music, but not too loud. I would maybe have a party. I don’t think I would want to go out to any bars. I’d be sad! I hope one day I’m not executive director and I get a chance to go to First Night. I could go and volunteer. Give back and be part of. I am a lucky girl.
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