Cultures originating in Eastern Europe – Ukrainian, Carpatho-Rusyn, Russian, Slovak, and others – came to Broome County in large numbers during the early 20th-century to work in the burgeoning shoe factories fo Endicott-Johnson. It was not long before the first of many Othodox Christian churches, with their distinctive gilded domes began to appear in the urban landscape of Johnson City, Endicott, and Binghamton. Greeks, also practicing Orthodox Christianity, also became a major presence in Broome County during the same period.

Many of those we interviewed from Eastern European backgrounds marked their New Year within the ethos of the Church, in particular through folk rituals associated with water. Several recalled a tradition of washing in a basin of water that has gold or silver coins at the bottom. It was thought that this ritual would insure good fortune for the coming year. Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Christ, and is commemorated in many churches through a blessing of waters, after which consecrated water brought out into the communiy to bless the households of the congregation. Similarly, ethnic Greek tradition marks St Basil's Day (January 1) with a a cleansing or emptying of vessels, or the suspension of a cross with a sprig of basil over water in wooden bowl. The Greeks, rather than placing coins in a basin, bake a single coin into a pie, conferring luck to the person who finds it.

We fused these many intertwined traditions into a processional element embodying three basic Eastern Orthodox themes: the Church, the waters, and the coins. For First Night each of seven domes from the local churches was replicated faithfully, and carried aloft in the procession. Beneath each dome, and illuminated curtain of (simulated) water cascaded down amidst suspended gold and silver coins.