The community’s official start of the holidays is set to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, when Santa flips on the lights of the Christmas tree in Irwin Park in Homewood.
This year’s Virtual Holiday Light Showcase will be accessed through the park district’s website at hfparks.com, or select from the park district, village of Homewood or village of Flossmoor Facebook pages.
The program will open with holiday wishes extended by Mayor Richard Hofeld of Homewood and Mayor Paul Braun of Flossmoor, as well as Dallas Collins, president of the park district’s board of commissioners.
The community will get to sing along to presentations by the fifth grade choir at Churchill School, the Homewood-Flossmoor High School Viking Choir and the Grande Prairie Children’s Choir.
The program will end with the official lighting of the holiday tree.
The ceremony would normally start the Homewood Holiday Lights celebration on Martin Avenue. Residents and guests would march west from Irwin Park to downtown Homewood to enjoy a host of special events, take a spin on an old-fashioned carousel and let Homewood merchants fulfill their shopping lists, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to all specialty events this year.