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The annual fundraiser for the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association normally draws about 525 people each November to the event space at the Holiday Inn on Route 31 in Crystal Lake, an event capped with a fashion show modeled by the people with disabilities the organization serves.
Last year, it was held fully virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Jim Wiseman, the association’s executive director, said Thursday plans are already in place to make it an in-person gathering at the hotel this fall, and he hopes at least 300 people will be able to attend, if not 500.
“We may be back to where we can do 100% capacity. There may be some guidelines about masks still,” Wiseman said. “It’s just such a great event. We understood having to do virtual and we did the best we could with what we could, but getting back to in-person generates excitement in the community about who NISRA is and what we do.”
More weddings are also in the works for the ELARA Convention Center at the Holiday Inn Crystal Lake for the last six months of the year, said Eric Yarolimek, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.
People who may have been looking to have 225 wedding guests pre-pandemic are now feeling comfortable with hosting up to 100 in a few months, he said. Some other nonprofits and fundraisers are also on track to use the space.
“There is a lot of activity. Once this vaccination started rolling out is when we really began seeing the phone start ringing again and people have the confidence to go out and book something for the back half of the year,” Yarolimek said.
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Event organizers of all kinds reacted optimistically to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months and the vaccination campaign, which was further updated Thursday by Gov. JB Pritzker with a plan to make everyone 16 and older eligible for shots starting April 12.
Plus, the governor rolled out a new set of looser restrictions to “bridge” the current Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan with the fully open stage known as Phase 5.
During the bridge phase, which the state will move into the bridge phase once 70% of seniors have received at least one shot of vaccine, outdoor festivals and spectator events will allow 30 people per 1,000 square feet, twice as many as in Phase 4; and 60% capacity in museums, theaters, performing art centers ticketed and seated spectator events.
It will also allow the lesser of 1,000 people or 60% capacity in meetings conferences and conventions, and up to 250 people for indoor social events and 500 people for outdoor social events. Phase 4 allows the lesser of 50 people or 50% of capacity inside, and the lesser of 100 people or 50% capacity outside.
| Setting | Phase 4 | Bridge |
|---|---|---|
| Dining | Seated areas: Patrons at least 6 feet apart; parties fewer than 10 Standing areas: 25% capacity indoors | Seated areas: Same as Phase 4 Standing areas: 30% capacity indoors, 50% capacity outdoors |
| Health and fitness | 50% capacity Group fitness classes of 50 or fewer indoors or 100 or fewer outdoors | 60% capacity Same limits for group fitness classes |
| Offices, personal care, retail | 50% capacity | 60% capacity |
| Amusement parks | 50% capacity | 60% capacity |
| Festivals, general admission outdoor spectator events | 15 people per 1,000 square feet | 30 people per 1,000 square feet |
| Flea and farmers markets | 25% capacity or 15 people per 1,000 square feet | Indoor: 15 people per 1,000 square feet Outdoor: 30 people per 1,000 square feet |
| Meetings, conferences and conventions | Venues with capacity less than 200: Lesser of 50 people or 50% Venues with capacity greater than 200: Lesser of 250 people or 25% | Lesser of 1,000 people or 60% capacity |
| Recreation | Indoor: Lesser of 50 people or 50% capacity Outdoor: Maximum groups of 50, multiple groups allowed | Indoor: Lesser of 100 people or 50% Outdoor: Maximum groups of 100, multiple groups allowed |
| Social events | Indoor: Lesser of 50 people or 50% capacity Outdoor: Lesser of 100 people or 50% capacity | Indoor: 250 cap Outdoor: 500 cap |
| Theaters and performing arts | Indoor venue with capacity less than 200: Lesser of 50 people or 50% capacity Outdoor venues or indoor venues with capacity greater than 200: 25% capacity | 60% capacity |
The McHenry County Department of Health did not respond Thursday to inquiries on whether it would be able to meet the timeline to allow anyone 16 and older to start getting shots locally by April 12.
The county health agency has so far remained in Phase 1b and has not started vaccinated into those 16 and older with certain medical conditions, an expansion the state launched Feb. 25.
In McHenry County, about 61% of seniors had received at least one shot of vaccine as of Thursday, according to state health department data.
“Our community vaccination capabilities are entirely dependent on vaccine availability and our vaccine allocation through the county,” said Michelle Green, a spokeswoman for Northwestern Medicine, which operates hospitals in Woodstock, Huntley and McHenry and has been helping vaccinate its patients who are eligible in the area.
Mercyhealth, a regional health system with seven hospitals, including one in Harvard and another planned for Crystal Lake, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Northwestern is growing its inoculation effort and hopes to see an increased number of doses supplied to it by the county health department, Green said, noting Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital administered 600 vaccines on Wednesday.
“This week we received 2,340 doses, and Wednesday’s was the largest first-dose clinic so far,” Green said. Another first-dose clinic is planned for Friday.
As the distribution of shots continues and widens, event organizers are growing more bullish on the rest of the year.
So far, only one wedding at the Concord Center north of Woodstock – originally planned for last year and rescheduled to this year because of COVID-19 – has canceled their new 2021 date, manager Catherine Forrest said. Most of the rescheduled weddings have outdoor ceremonies.
“This is what I see. You might have a bride and groom and their parents who are ready to move forward, but a lot of it depends on when they reach out to guests, whether the guests are ready to move forward. That has to be their choice,” Forrest said. “I feel they should go ahead with their wedding. They can’t accommodate everybody.”
The Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake is expecting at least part of this year to look fairly normal, too.
“We at the Raue Center are going to take a measured approach for the summer. We’re still going to have occupancy limits at least from a budgetary standpoint that we’re relatively lower than our full occupancy of 750 people,” CEO Rick Kuranda said.
He hopes to be able to have 200 to 300 people for indoor shows this summer. The center is also planning outdoor events for the summer, he said, adding he is unable to disclose what they are right now.
“We’re really looking forward to growth in the fall and winter months,” he said.
The organizers of Founders’ Days in Algonquin are also planning on taking advantage of the levity granted to outdoor festivals by the bridge phase.
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A festival that includes a parade and live music in Spella Park is being planned for the last weekend in July, said Sue Bazdor, the secretary for the Founders Day Committee. Last year’s was canceled, and leaders of the committee are working on getting the exact square footage of the park from the village so they know the maximum number of people they can admit.
There will be no bake-off this year, Bazdor said, and it is unknown whether other activities like bouncy houses and rides will be a part of this year’s festival due to potential public health restrictions in place at the time. Holding a fireworks show is up in the air this year because of committee finances, Bazdor said.
“The way it looks now is it sounds like we’re going to have a full festival, just with people having to wear masks. That’s what we’re hoping for,” she said.
But not every sector of the economy that depends at least partly on large gatherings is not hopping back in action right away.
“As far as business travel, we are still lagging behind and haven’t seen any signs of life in that regard,” said Yarolimek, the marketing and sales director of the Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake.