Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Canfield Rotarians Carol Bodine and Ted Gavozzi pretend to drive one of the six motion light displays in the Canfield Village Green.

CANFIELD — Canfield Rotary members are ready to plug in and enjoy the return of a live event on Friday.

They will host the annual lighting of the village green at 6:30 p.m.

“This year, with COVID under reasonable control, we will be back for the Lighting of the Green,” event coordinator Anthony Nacarato said. “We are proud that we were able to do this event virtually in 2020, but seeing Santa in person is much better.”

In 2020, a handful of Rotary members and city officials had the lighting filmed live so residents could watch it from their home computers and televisions. This year, the event returns to the downtown area with a variety of venues for families to enjoy.

The event will begin with a parade and Santa’s arrival at 7 p.m. Santa will head to Canfield Township Hall following the parade and will greet children inside.

A performance by Canfield students at about 7:30 p.m. will take place at the Canfield Christian Church and the Canfield Methodist Church, both across from the village green. Dairy Queen and the Victorian Tea Room will both offer refreshments and the Mahoning Dispatch Museum will be open for tours.

“The Canfield Rotary Club is proud to put on this event each year, but we cannot do it without the help of the people and businesses in and around the community,” Nacarato said.

Rotary uses the event as a major fundraiser. The club obtains sponsors for each of the 65 Christmas trees at $150 each. The trees came from Stepuk Tree Farm of Ellsworth.

Sponsors are also secured for the carriage ride, the gazebo, and this year, the new motion light displays.

Rotarian Mike McAndrews donated the light displays that include eight street lamps, five antique automobiles, and a train. Each display has motion wheels that give the appearance of movement.

Nacarato said the trees are purchased at a good rate and are covered with 500 white lights. That totals 32,500 lights on just the trees alone. There is also a tall tree in the center of the gazebo that is lit and decorated with ornaments. That tree was donated by Edison Lighting.

Nacarato said at the end of the night, Rotary expects to clear more than $10,000, which will be used for a village green-Rotary project.

“The funds will be used for the new gazebo that will be built on the village green,” he said.

The new gazebo will mimic the present one, which is beginning to show problem areas. The new one will be a little larger and will be handicapped- accessible. The expected price tag for the new structure comes in around $125,000, organizers said.