This year, C & J Mercantile owners Carl and Joshua Boyer-Winn made their inaugural foray into offering a community-wide Christmas event: “Santa’s Workshop.” Santa’s Workshop allows children and adults alike to meet Santa and take free photos with him, walk about the grounds, and enjoy family togetherness. Last Saturday, December 11, marked the first ever Santa’s Workshop.
On Nov. 3, 2020, C & J Mercantile relocated its business from west 6th Avenue to the old Elks Lodge on the west side of town along Route 66. The new location came with plenty of sloping land perfect for hosting events and holiday decorations. With that in mind, Carl and Joshua wasted no time in signing up for the business lighting contest last year. This year, they wanted to add to the holiday experience, so Santa’s Workshop came to life.
Santa’s Workshop will be open once more this season on Saturday, Dec. 18, from 4 to 7 p.m. Guests may visit Santa, and children may sit on Santa’s lap while parents take photos. Additional backdrops are available for photos taken by attendees free-of-charge. Also, Carl and Joshua will hang new backdrops each Saturday of the event, providing additional scenes for families to enjoy. They want families who may otherwise be unable to afford professional photos to have every opportunity to take their own.
In addition to meeting Santa, visitors may purchase nachos, hot dogs, popcorn, hot chocolate, and smores kits at the concession. Carl and Joshua set up fire pits with chairs for families and friends to gather round, warm themselves, visit, and make smores together. They designed Santa’s Workshop to be a festive place for families and friends to hang out and enjoy the holidays as accessibly as possible.
Around 100 people attended Santa’s Workshop last Saturday, and Carl and Joshua hope for even more this week. Joshua said “We’re encouraging families and friends to come out for a night of free pictures with Santa. We want them to be able to enjoy the season together.”
Joshua noted his own thankfulness that several kids met Santa for the first time, which was magical and exciting. Some of those magical moments simply meant witnessing Santa meet people’s needs in the moment. For example, when a child was afraid to enter the building, the parent asked if Santa could come outside. Santa obliged the simple request, meeting the child on the porch. A little later, a foster mom brought her three special-needs adult-aged children to meet Santa. Her son spoke with Santa, saying “What I want is for my mom to adopt me and me and my bothers can stay together for ever, but most important, my mom will be happy.” Another little girl made an extra trip to tell Santa she loved him and to ask whether carrots are a good snack for reindeer. Santa revealed they love Hershey’s Kisses more than carrots.
Joshua and Carl shared their reason for building the event: “We love the holidays. We adopted four kids and found there’s not a lot to do in Bristow, so we wanted to create something new that’s accessible to the entire community and surrounding areas, where people can come and actually be able to do something during the season. It’s very important to us to offer something for families unable to afford to do things with their children to have an event they can attend with their families. We plan to expand every year. We hope to one day have a Christmas spectacular for the community with more lights, fun activities, carolers, and more. We want to bring in volunteers and get the community involved in creating a new and magical holiday world for everyone in the area.”
This Saturday, C & J Mercantile will host its second and final Santa’s Workshop this season; however, they plan to bring it back next year with more festive fun. To visit the store, C & J Mercantile is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For now, plan to visit Santa’s Workshop Saturday and enjoy the holiday magic with them.