JC Huffman Cabinetry to host ‘Ho Ho Ho Holiday’ events every Friday, Saturday

FAIRFIELD — JC Huffman Cabinetry in Fairfield has announced that it will host a series of indoor Christmas events to raise money for a local charity.

The shop, located on the west edge of Fairfield at 3100 W. Burlington Ave., will host what it’s calling the “Ho Ho Ho Holiday,” celebrated every Friday and Saturday from Nov. 25-26 through the weekend of Dec. 16-17. From 5:30-8:30 p.m. on those days, the public is invited to get a free photo with Santa Claus, along with a free ornament the photo can be placed in, since the photo will be printed right then and there. While they wait, guests will be treated to a free cookie and hot cocoa.

Proceeds from this event will go toward Little Superheroes, a Fairfield-based nonprofit that provides financial assistance to families with chronically ill children. Christie Kessel founded the organization after her daughter, Valerie, was born in 2014 and diagnosed with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction not long after her birth. Little Superheroes awards grants throughout the year and has assisted more than 100 families since the organization was founded in 2015.

Though many of the activities at “Ho Ho Ho Holiday” are free, JC Huffman will be able to collect money for the fundraiser by charging for a few things, one of those is the hot cocoa bar which, in addition to having small cups of hot chocolate for free, will offer larger sizes and add-ons like caramel sauce for a fee. The company also will sell hot chocolate containers that guests can take home with them.

Company employee Chasity Huffman said her company has hosted a few events before, such as Business After Hours, but nothing quite like this.

“This is new territory for us,” she said.

Inside the shop will be a station to buy baked goods, courtesy of three local baking companies: Breadtopia Bakery, Bountiful Bakery and Farm Girl Bakery, the name of Deb Petersen’s business.

“[Petersen] is opening her own bakery now, and she’ll provide a lot of the items such as cupcakes, sugar cookies and reindeer feet,” Chasity said.

Chasity said that, after taking account of the hot cocoa, container and baked goods, the company needed one more way to raise money for Little Superheroes. She pitched the idea to her father Jim of making snowflakes out of wood and selling them.

“I showed him a picture of snowflakes I liked, and he built them,” Chasity said. “I put them on Facebook, and after seven hours, I had sold seven of them.”

Chasity’s mother Teresa, who co-owns the business with Jim, said she’s looking forward to being able to host an indoor event this holiday season.

“This will be a good thing for Little Superheroes and the community, not to have to stand out in the cold,” Teresa said. “We think it’s going to be a hit since everyone can be warm, and socialize with people they haven’t seen for a while.”

“We’ve gotten nothing but positive vibes from the community after announcing this,” Chasity said.

JC Huffman Cabinetry had been involved in the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Santa House events, including remodeling the old Santa House into an ornament shop and building a new Santa House in 2019. However, she said that her company just had a different vision for the event from the chamber, and thus decided to host its own Christmas events at the shop.

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