Community Health Center Lauds Middnight on Main

From the Community Health Center
------------------------
Inaugural Event Puts Middletown on the Map for the Place to Be on New Year’s Eve
Its official – Middletown’s inaugural New Year’s Eve festival - Middnight on Main – was a huge success for the city. The sold out event brought 10,000 people into Downtown Middletown to partake in a variety of activities and performances offered in over a dozen Main Street venues.

The crowds kept growing, as 10,000 people filled Downtown Middletown on Saturday for Middnight on Main. You could hear and feel the joy and amazement. Whether it was the depth and quality of the performances and activities; the comfortable evening weather that was just right for strolling all night
long; the charm of a small college town on the Connecticut River with a picture perfect Main Street; or the grace and friendliness of hundreds of volunteers - the success of Middnight on Main redefined Middletown. This event has put the City on the map as the place to be for New Year’s Eve, and beyond.

It was standing room only at all of the evenings events as people packed into venues. Some of the performers, including SteveSongs and Jean Rohe, performed songs written just for Middnight on Main. At 6pm, the City shut down the intersection of Main and Washington Streets as thousands of people gathered for a rooftop fireworks display. ‘Food truck heaven’ was a hit offering everything from the typical road food to organic gourmet fare. NoRA Cupcake Company (located at 700 Main Street) chose this evening as their grand opening; and as stated on their Facebook page “Wow! Grand opening a success. Thanks to…Middnight on Main.”

As the night wore on, those in attendance only had wonderful things to say about the event. Some of the various comments on Twitter and Facebook include: “We drove 2 hours to get there. Worth every minute. Thank you, Middletown, for a great New Years Eve!!”; “Awesome fireworks show! Just relocated to CT, will be visiting Middletown again soon!”; “Awesome arts and cultural shows and the best CT food trucks here in Middletown.”; “Middnight on Main is what First Night wants to be.”; “It was truly a good time, we enjoyed some cooking demonstrations, fireworks, dinner at a restaurant and a couple of concerts, then the great midnight celebration in front of the church. The people who put this together did not forget one detail. Thanks to all involved!”; “This was so much fun! I will be back to ring in 2013!!”; “AWESOME show(s)! What a perfect way to spend New Year’s Eve!!!”

Even the performers had glowing reviews:
“What a hugely successful event!!! My sincere ‘Thanks’ to the whole staff that worked so hard to make everything happen without a hitch. The venues were wonderful, and the audiences were great. My best regards for a prosperous 2012.” – Bob Riordan

“An incredible/ unforgettable night!!! On behalf of LAmas 860 and myself, Happy New Year’s to All!!!!” – Nelson Bello

“Our 40+ singers felt really privileged to be part of this event. Thank you to all the volunteers, staff and sponsors for making it possible!” – The Greater Middletown Chorale

“We had a great time. Hats off to the team that put it all together - hope we can do it again in the future!” – River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs


The Middnight on Main staff extends a special thank you to all of the event sponsors, including hosting sponsor Community Health Center; Gold Sponsors: Pratt & Whitney and The Centerplan Companies; Silver Sponsors: City of Middletown, CPTV, WNPR and The Middletown Press; Bronze Sponsor: Wesleyan University; Middnight Sparklers: Middlesex Hospital, Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, Liberty Bank, and Downtown Business District; Middnight Revelers: Guilmartin, DiPiro and Sokolowski, Connecticut Rental, A.R. Mazzotta , MiddleOak, and the Connection; Middnight Stars: Inn at Middletown, National Paint and Wallpaper, Barker Specialty, Middletown Toyota, Middletown Scion, and Middletown Sears; and Media Sponsors: Triple Frog, Makiaris Media Services, and WESU.

The Community Health Center was proud to lead this event. “As we enter into our 40th year of operations we felt that being the host sponsor of this event would be a special thank you to the City and citizens of Middletown,” said Mark Masselli, President and CEO of CHC. “Without the continued support of our efforts, we couldn’t do the work we do across Connecticut to bring health care to those in need.”