Holiday Lighting Ceremony starts the Christmas season

The public is invited to see Fairfield's town square light up the night at the annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony on Friday, Nov. 27, in Central Park.

This event, sponsored by Everybody's Whole Foods, begins in the dark at 5:30 p.m. with a community singalong of traditional holiday favorite songs.

At 5:55 p.m., Chamber of Commerce CEO Darien Sloat will announce the person named by the Chamber's Christmas Committee as a citizen who exemplifies the Christmas season, and at 6 p.m. sharp that person will throw the switch to light up the entire square in the blink of an eye, turning the darkness into a holiday wonderland.

'This is a magical moment that will quickly become a tradition after your first visit,” stated a news release from the Chamber.

Shortly thereafter, Santa will arrive by escort to open his house on the northeast corner of the square where he will listen to children's hopes and dreams for the best Christmas ever.

The beautiful new Santa House built in 2019 by Teresa and Jim Huffman and their staff at JC Huffman Cabinetry will be open again this year from 6-8:30 p.m. the night of the Holiday Lighting, and then every Friday and Saturday until Dec. 19.

Due to the pandemic, the Chamber's Christmas Committee will use a system called 'Tables Ready” where families can get a reservation on their cellphone and wait in their car until their turn comes up. This will help with physical distancing, and just as in years past, there will be free cocoa to drink while families wait to see Santa.

When families arrive at Santa's house, they will find the jolly old fellow behind a table where he will be working on toys and his 'Naughty and Nice” list. This will improve physical distancing with kids but still allow them to see Santa, and get their picture taken. The workshop will be open as well but rather than have families assemble their chosen ornament on site, Santa's elves will help children pick one of three ornaments plus a bag with all the parts and their picture to take home and assemble with their families.

'There also will be free horse drawn wagon rides around the square for a great start to the holiday season,” stated the news release. 'This is an evening not to be missed!”

Four more life-size nutcrackers have been added this year to complete the set that will now be flanking each of the four entrances to the park. These new decorations were purchased with donations by residents to the Chamber's annual Tree of Lights campaign that raises funds to maintain and purchase decorations for the square, as well as a matching grant from the Greater Jefferson County Foundation.

To support a 'Shop Local” initiative this year, the Chamber will be giving away five $50 Chamber Bucks gift certificates during the holiday season as an incentive for customers to support their local small businesses. Look at the Chamber website to find out which merchants will be having sign up containers in their store, and look at storefronts to see a small poster indicating that they are a participating merchant. Sign up will begin on Nov. 23 and run through Dec. 14. The drawing for Chamber Bucks will be Dec. 15.

For more information about this and other chamber events, contact the Chamber at 641-472-2111 or email Events@FairfieldIowa.com.

Santa will be at his Kandy Kane House Hours from 6-8:30 p.m. on the following dates:

Friday, Nov. 27 (Ornaments and pictures available)

Saturday, Nov. 28

Friday, Dec. 4 (Ornaments and pictures available)

Saturday, Dec. 5

Friday, Dec. 11 (Ornaments and pictures available)

Saturday, Dec. 12

Friday, Dec. 18 (Ornaments and pictures available)

Saturday, Dec. 19