The trees are decorated for virtual debut

It’s a holiday tradition that with a bit of ingenuity will continue this Christmas season. Coal City’s Festival of Trees is going virtual with a host of decorated trees, holiday decorations and a few special items that can be wrapped up for someone special, or even just for you to open on Christmas morning. Organized by parents and friends of the junior class at Coal City High School, the Promfest Committee works throughout the school year to raise the funds necessary to host a post-prom celebration for the school’s junior and senior classes. The concept for a substance-free post prom event was started in the 1990s by a group of parents. It has evolved over the years from a themed event with games and activities at the school to off-site locations with activities like bumper cars and laser tag. Funds raised from this year’s festival will help offset the costs associated with a post-prom party set for spring 2021. To comply with pandemic guidelines, organizers came up with a unique way to place all 35 raffle items on-line for viewing with a link to purchase chances.Individuals interested in purchasing chances can access a Google form available on each of the group’s social media pages—Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The form will contain a photo and short video of each tree, decoration and gift item up for raffle, along with a description of what is included with the package and the item’s sponsor. There will also be photo albums posted on social media showcasing each item in detail. Using the form, individuals can select the items they want to enter in the raffle. Once the completed form is submitted Promfest volunteers will tally the amount owed and send out an invoice. Chances are $1 each or 20 for $25. Payments can be made via PayPal at ccpromfest@gmail.com [use friends and family option], Venmo @coalcity-Promfest or in person with cash inside the Coal City High School Events Entry, 655 W. Division St., between the hours of 9-11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Once the invoice is paid the raffle tickets will be entered into the drawing for the items of choice. The festival comes to a close Sunday evening, Dec. 6 and the winners will be drawn beginning at 6 p.m. and will be shown on Facebook live. Winners are asked to be available to collect their items that evening from Cardinal Transport located on Reed Road in Coal City. Toni Durham, a Promfest volunteer, reports the number of items up for raffle were scaled back due to the new concept. Organizers had initially set a goal of having 25 items and due to the generosity of over 70 donors they were able to assemble 35 displays. Keeping with tradition, the festival offers something for everyone including a few old favorites including a Coaler tree, candy tree and farmhouse themed tree. New themed trees this year include a Starbucks tree decorated with gift cards and cups, a snack food tree that comes with gift cards to various restaurants, bags of chips and a basket of treats, and a wine tree for the 21 and older crowd and it comes with the popular Coopers Hawk Winery 12 Days of Christmas wine box. There is also a Nerf tree, Star Wars tree, and a 36” Blackstone griddle up for raffle. Organizers have some entertainment planned for the festival with performances shown on social media featuring Major School of Dance, On Broadway Dancers, Coal City High School Footnotes, the cast of Coal City Middle School’s production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” and a few performances from Small Town Theatrics. Organizers are hoping to raise $10,000. Durham reports early plans are to bring the post-prom celebration back to the high school, and offer more prizes and giveaways to the students attending. In the event they are unable to host an in-person event, Durham said the funds will be utilized to provide a gift to the senior class. Any additional funds would be rolled over with the hope the current junior class will get a senior prom and festival the following spring. Festival information and a link to the raffle form can be found on Facebook at Coal City Festival of Trees, ccpromfest on Instagram and @CCPromfest on Twitter.