Last year’s winner of the annual “Parade of Trees” was the White Store Church and Evergreen Cemetery. The Chenango County Historical Society (CCHS) will host the beloved holiday tradition as a virtual event this year. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH – The Chenango County Historical Society (CCHS) invites all community members to experience the wonder of the season with the 2020 Virtual “Parade of Trees” from Dec. 6 through Jan. 6, 2021.

Last year, CCHS added a unique twist to the annual “Parade of Trees,” transitioning the event into a “People’s Choice” contest. Local charitable organizations decorated trees highlighting the culture, history, and heritage of Chenango County.

Visitors to CCHS then cast votes by making donations into the corresponding container. This approach generated renewed interest in a beloved holiday tradition, while simultaneously supporting CCHS and the White Store Church and Evergreen Cemetery – the organization behind the winning tree. This year, CCHS staff recognized that innovation and creative thinking are necessary to meet the challenges of the current public health crisis.

“The pandemic has caused many organizations to rethink their normal programming and discover new ways to still hold favorite community events. We hope that through this virtual event we are rising to that challenge and retaining the community connection created through the Parade of Trees,” said Joseph Fryc, operations manager.

Similar to last year, members of the community will be able to vote for their favorite tree by making a donation. However, in lieu of container voting, virtual visitors will make donations to the corresponding organization’s “Team Page” as part of an online fundraising campaign. Whichever organization’s page accumulates the greatest total by the conclusion of the campaign will be deemed the winner. The winning tree campaign’s earnings will be split evenly between the organization and CCHS. (Donations from all other tree pages will go to support the mission of CCHS.)

CCHS is hopeful that the transition to a virtual “Parade of Trees” will help the event be more popular than ever.

“In the past, we had to restrict the amount of participating organizations due to space constraints. However, with a switch to virtual, that limitation is gone, and we are able to open up the event to more organizations,” said Fryc. “The sky really is the limit this year, and we hope that the parade can be more successful than ever with the support of our community.”

Charitable organizations in Chenango County that would like to participate in this year’s virtual “Parade of Trees” should visit www.chenangohistorical.org/events to register.

Call (607) 334-9927 or email Operations@ChenangoHistorical.org for more information.