Huffmans’ Christmas event to feature Harry Potter theme in new location

FAIRFIELD – Jim and Teresa Huffman’s popular Christmas event called “Ho Ho Ho Holiday” will be in a new location this year.

The Huffmans purchased the former Lincoln Elementary School building at 401 W. Stone Ave. earlier this year, and are remodeling the interior to host special guests such as Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Grinch, as well as Whoville-themed attractions. New this year will be Harry Potter-themed activities such as a room called Ollivander’s Wand Shop where children can make magic potions, a Goblin adventure at Gringott’s Bank in Diagon Alley, and a chance to sip “butterbeer” at the Leaky Cauldron.

The event will be held every Friday and Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 5:30-8 p.m. Admission is $15. Teresa said she and Jim have paid for everything out of pocket for the past few years, and it got to be too expensive without an admission fee.

“Last year we lost $30,000,” she said. “As much as I love it, there’s a point where I can’t incur the burden anymore especially after purchasing a new building and doing all the repairs and updates that had to take place.”

Teresa said she and Jim decided they needed to find a new home for their Christmas celebration after last year’s was so successful, when it was held at their shop JC Huffman Cabinetry. The event drew about 7,000 people over its eight nights, and was listed on Iowa Roadtrip’s Facebook page, where he garnered more than 3 million views.

“We were listed as the No. 1 place to visit for Christmas in all of Iowa,” Teresa said.

Teresa said hosting the event at their shop was not ideal because of the huge need for parking, and even though motorists could also park at the adjacent RPM Automotive lot, the high attendance meant that cars ended up lining both sides of West Burlington Avenue. Teresa and Jim kept their eye out for buildings that they could move to where they would have more space to accommodate the crowd.

The Fairfield school district announced in April that it was selling the former Lincoln Center. The Huffmans liked that it was off the main drag so that people would no longer need to cross a busy road to get to it, and they liked that it gave them a lot of square footage all on one level.

The Huffmans took possession of the former school on June 30, and have been working at a frenetic pace to prepare it for opening night on Nov. 29. Teresa said they had to gut the building and tear out the old boiler system and radiators.

“We needed all the block work redone by a mason to close it up to the outside, and we’ve put in central air and central heating,” Teresa said. “We have eight huge units, and the classrooms are zoned now.”

They will use about half the building for the Ho Ho Ho Holiday Event since “that’s all we could get remodeled,” Teresa said. That will include using the gymnasium and four classrooms. Down the road, the Huffmans might lease the remaining rooms as office space, and Teresa has dreams of opening a steakhouse inside. For the time being, the Huffmans are focused on turning the building into a festive wonderland.

“Everybody’s looking for something different to do on the weekends, and especially in a small town,” Teresa said. “People are going out of town to find things to do, but that doesn’t keep our money local. If we can do things to bring in tourism and make our town a destination, it will help the restaurants and hotels, and a lot of people will benefit from this.”

Teresa added that last year, restaurant owners stopped by to ask when they were holding their special events so the restaurants could be ready for the rush of customers that night.

Some of the activities at the Ho Ho Ho Holiday Event will be familiar to residents such as meeting Santa, visiting the Grinch, getting a custom JC Huffman 2024 ornament, a hot chocolate bar and photo ops galore. There is also the Whoville toy shop with new toys from last year.

“We have an antique sleigh, and a lot of people over the last two years take pictures in that sleigh as a family,” Teresa said.

New this year are the Harry Potter-themed rooms, which were built by Jim, and will include a Goblin. Teresa said the “butterbeer” is not real beer but more like a cream soda with a caramel butterscotch topping. Kids can make their own magic potion at no additional charge. Items such as the toys and the goods sold are Mrs. Claus Bakery, plus additional toppings for the hot chocolate, come with an additional charge.

The Huffmans plan to pave a large parking lot on the property in the future, but there wasn’t time to do that for this year’s Christmas event. In addition to the parking spaces available in the parking lots on the property itself, the Huffmans are encouraging visitors to take advantage of a shuttle service that will run between the Lincoln Center and the parking lot at the corner of North Fourth Street and West Lowe Avenue.

“We’ve made arrangements with the Fairfield school district to have bus drivers who are volunteering to run a shuttle for us,” Teresa said. “We’ll pick you up and bring you back to your car so you’re not having to search for a parking spot.”

Teresa said that, even though it has been a quick turnaround and that the construction will come “right down to the wire,” she’s very excited to show the public this new space for their celebration.

“It’s going to be an amazing event, and I think a lot of people will really enjoy the transformation of the Lincoln Center,” she said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com