Fall Fest

The village of Coal City will kick-off a new season with its first Fall Fest, an evening of events that include both fun and fundraising.
There is a lot on the agenda for the Saturday, Sept. 18 event that is being organized by the Coal City Park Board. This will be the first large scale event in the village since 2018.
Activities get underway with a car show along South Broadway from Campbell Memorial Park north to Oak Street—further north if necessary to accommodate vehicles. The display of vehicles from old to new will run from 4-7 p.m.
Mayor Terry Halliday and village officials invite the community to join them in Campbell Memorial Park at 4:30 p.m. for the State of the Village address to be presented by the mayor. At 5 p.m. the group will move on to South Broadway for the official ribbon cutting marking the completion of the roadway reconstruction.
After the ribbon cutting, activities will get underway on the south side of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad crossing starting with a kids fun run at 5:30 p.m.
Morris Community YMCA is sponsoring the fun run for any child age 10 and under in conjunction with the Crushing Cancer 5K organized by Team Megan Bugg that steps off at 6 p.m.
All children taking part in the free fun run will receive a participation medal.
The Crushing Cancer 5K is a fundraiser to support Megan Bugg’s efforts to fund childhood cancer research. Funds raised through the run will be directed to the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute [CCTDI].
Runners and walkers taking part in the 5K will travel south on Broadway from the 700 block, make a left turn on to Reed Road and circle at Cardinal Transport to head back into the village.
Both events will be held in the 700 block of S. Broadway with Babe’s Tap serving as the headquarters. Registration for the 5K and children’s fun run is open and links for on-line registration can be found on the Team Megan Bugg Facebook page.
The YMCA will also provide supervised children’s activities during the 5K.
Entertainment for the evening gets underway at 6 p.m. with Cadillac Grove playing until 10 p.m. in the parking lot west of Bob’s Advanced Auto & Tire.
Several businesses in that area will be open with food and beverage, a food truck is scheduled to be selling barbecue and the Coal City Lions Club will operate at beer stand near the band. The village’s waste collector Environmental Recycling and Disposal has donated single use cups for the event and other businesses are considering participating in various ways.
Earlier in the day, Geo’s Pizza will hold a vendor show in the empty lot on the north side of its building in the 700 block of S. Broadway and part of that will be silent auction featuring a variety of gift baskets. Funds generated from the basket auction will go to support the CCTDI’s childhood cancer research and an expansion of the Hope Helps all-inclusive playground in Coal City’s Lions Park.
South Broadway will be closed for most of the late afternoon and evening and will reopen as events wrap up.
“I hope everybody comes out and enjoys the day, and we get some good weather,” Halliday said.
For the record it looks to be a good day as the weather man is currently predicting 86 degrees and sunny, with an after dark low of 63 degrees.