Flying fruitcakes! Arboretum unveils new holiday tradition

The holidays, as redefined by the Morton Arboretum, may include the following: chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose and fruitcakes whizzing through the air.

The tree museum at 4100 Route 53 in Lisle is introducing a new custom guaranteed to get the new year off to a goofy start: the Fabulous Fruitcake Fling.

At 1 p.m. Sunday, sporting competitors will chuck those candied confections to win points for distance, accuracy and style, said Diana Fischer-Woods, the arboretum's special events manager.

The fling precedes the annual Yule Log Hunt, an event that's been going strong for 31 years, set to begin at 2 p.m.

"This year we've put a new spin on it to kind of recharge it a little bit," said Fischer-Woods. "What we're inviting people to do is bring fruitcakes, if they want."

For those who arrive without a fruitcake to fling, slices will be available for purchase, she said.

Fischer-Woods said the idea isn't entirely new, just new to the arboretum.

"I had read about this somewhere. It occurs somewhere in Canada," she said.

This year there will be only one hunt for the Yule log, rather than the arboretum's traditional two. Hunters will be given clues to various destinations inside the arboretum. At each stop, they must get a card punched to show they went through each step in the sequence, Fischer-Woods said.

The winner - the first to find the log - will drag it back to the Visitor Center.

"This year, we're going to have a team of huskies to help haul the log back in," she said, adding that the dogs will be supplied by the Adopt-A-Husky organization.

Visitors also will be entertained by botanically-themed holiday carols sung by a group called the Frozen Robins.

Fischer-Woods said visitors can enjoy cocoa, wassail and cookies and see an elaborate model railroad display before it closes for the season at the end of the day.

Admission to the fruitcake fling and the log hunt are free with arboretum admission.

"It's kind of a culmination of our holiday celebration," she said.

If you go

What: Fabulous Fruitcake Fling and Yule Log Hunt

Where: Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 4

Cost: $9 adults, $8 seniors, $6 ages 2-17, free under age 2

Info: (630) 968-0074 or www.mortonarb.org