U OF I Dial-A-Carol Enters Its 56th Year
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's the one thing the students of Snyder Hall at the University of Illinois in Champagne look forward to all year.
"In means so much to the hall itself since it's such a staple," said Rahmah Elmassry, Junior, program organizer.
"Freshman come in and the first thing they hear about is Dial-A-Carol," Elmassry said. "The first thing they get excited for is this huge program that's been going on for years."
The Dial-A-Carol began in 1960 by an office secretary and residents of Snyder Hall who wanted to spread some holiday cheer around campus. The tradition carries on this week. WBBM's Lisa Fielding reports.
Starting at midnight Thursday, Dec. 8th, people can call in and request any holiday tune and it will be sung live by students over the phone.
"We take all requests. Jingle Bells is the most requested, but we have a song book with lyrics. It has about 150 songs. If we don't know a song, we just ask someone and it's likely someone will know it," Elmassry laughed. "The hotline is manned 24 hours the entire week so there's hundreds of volunteers involved and you don't have to be a good singer."
Last year, they received more than 16,000 calls from all over the world.
"I got a call from Australia last year, Japan, Korea, Malaysia. Calls come in constantly. It's so fun. It's like meeting hundreds of people from around the world," she said.
Elmassry said 12 phone banks will be manned over the seven-day run.
"I think there's something endearing about people call in asking us to sing to them," Elmassry said. "It's stress relieving."
The Dial-A-Carol telephone number is (217) 332-1882. The Dial-A-Carol runs this year from 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14. You can also join Dial-a-Carol on Facebook.
