Vanlue Day replacing annual festival

VANLUE -- The coronavirus is forcing people to make do. And that's just what's going to happen in Vanlue on the first day of August. The Vanlue Community Organization board of directors has canceled the 2020 Vanlue Festival originally scheduled for July 30 and 31 and Aug. 1, but it made a switch to downscale on Aug. 1 and celebrate a Vanlue Community Day. Too many of the usual festival activities could not take place in a way to meet coronavirus-related guidelines, so the decision was made to make certain the village still had an enjoyable community event. "All the hoops you have to jump through -- we just said no, it wasn't possible," Kathy Bird, a member of the Vanlue Community board of directors. "Just this week, we weren't really sure what we were going to do or what we thought we could do, so we just settled on those (limited events). "Our community is small. We graduated 19 out of our high school this year. The year before, it was 10 seniors. So, everybody in the community is really wanting something." The usual three-day festival included a five-kilometer foot race, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a mud volleyball tournament, an inflatable playground for youngsters and a beer tent. The logistics were decided to be unworkable, but the board didn't want to give up. "We just wanted to do something for the community because they're always supportive when we have our events," Bird said, noting the organization typically hosts an Easter egg hunt, a free ham dinner with an appearance from Santa Claus during the holiday season and a trick-or-treat gathering at Halloween time. The community day will feature a fireworks display at 10 p.m. that Bird said will be the biggest the community's had, with about $5,000 being spent due to an addition of money from the treasury to a donation from a local couple and the proceeds of a benefit dinner conducted in February. On the community day, all of those participating in the king, queen and princess competitions will gather at the firehouse and take part in a parade around the village before the crowning of the royalty at the park gazebo at 4:30 p.m. A chicken barbecue dinner, with village firefighters doing the cooking, is set for 5 to 8 p.m. in the main building. A children's movie will play in the main building after the dinner, and the band "Spoiled Rotten" will perform in the open shelterhouse from 7 to 10 p.m., prior to the fireworks. Each dinner will include half a chicken, baked potato, green beans, roll and butter, dessert and a drink. Five-hundred tickets will be available at $10 from any board member, the village gas station and the Wildcat Cafe. The dinners will be available for dine-in or carryout, with drive-up available. Social distancing is being requested for the fireworks in the park.