The ACU Swing Cats’ annual Fall Stomp is benefiting from an anonymous $1,000 donation.

In its fifth year, Fall Stomp is the result of a partnership between the dance group and the ACU Jazz Ensemble. The event will include dance lessons, social dancing and a performance by the ACU Jazz Ensemble. Those who attend are encouraged to dress up in their best attire or vintage clothing.

The event has been free in the past with donations encouraged, said Dr. B. Cole Bennett, Swing Cats sponsor.

“There are those who enjoy Fall Stomp so much that they make small donations on the spot, but we don’t bill it as a fundraiser,” said Bennett, chair of the Department of Language and Literature.

Bennett said the Swing Cats appreciate the generosity of the $1000 donation because it financed the event’s venue, the Elks Club Ballroom. In the past, the event has taken place other locations, but the group has enjoyed the Elks Club Ballroom most over the past couple of years, he said.

Swing Cats co-president Elisa Wyrick, senior English major from The Woodlands, said she doesn’t get to experience live music often, so she takes advantage of it every chance she gets. She anticipates a big turnout for the event, Swing Cats’ biggest of the year.

“Apart from the band, what makes Fall Stomp really amazing is that it’s free for everyone, and we always have a really large crowd,” Wyrick said. “People from all over Abilene as well as neighboring cities come out to spend an evening with us. It’s a great source of community.”