On Friday, December 6th, citizens from all of Carterville met downtown to celebrate this upcoming holiday season together as a community. Booths from businesses and churches in the local area lined up down Division Street to provide visitors with refreshments and Christmas treats from the intersection all the way to the fire station. Many students at Carterville High School had the opportunity to volunteer at the event from various CHS clubs such as Interact Club, National Honors Society, and Student Council. Many students dressed up as Elves and were sent to various activities throughout downtown.

 Student Council member Macey Lentz reflects on her time volunteering and the event as a whole, “This is my second year dressing up as an elf and helping out downtown. This is one of my favorite events in Carterville and I look forward to it every year.” Macey was just one of over 20 Student Council volunteers. 

CHS Interact Club also contributed to the event, running their very own booth for the second year in a row. Over 30 Interact Club members met downtown by the fire station to set up their cookie icing station. Interact Club Vice President Ben Haake recalls the success of the booth for the second year, “Last year iced 250 cookies, this year we gave out over 500. We were worried we bought too many cookies for the event and would have a lot left over, but we ended up running out before the event was even over. We got the opportunity to meet and see a lot of people from the community by running this booth. This event as a whole is an amazing occasion to celebrate the holiday season as a community.” Interact Club is excited to see the growth of the event and their booth over the next few years. 

The 9th annual Christmas in Carterville was a brilliant success. The night not only brought joy to people of all ages but also gave everyone who attended a dash of the Christmas spirit.