By: Contessa Hussong

There truly is something magical taking place at the Magic Corner storefront in Hartford City.

As the holidays approach and lights fill the streets, the city itself is preparing for the season that Boe Powell and Meredith Jester — better known as “Santa Boe” and Mrs. Claus, respectively — enjoy all year round: Christmas.

With a love for the holidays that’s nothing if not contagious, the couple’s Santa’s Workshop experience carried an air of pure joy and passion from the moment I stepped through the door.

Mrs. Claus’s green apron brushed against the door frame as she let me into the shop. Behind her, Santa himself sat comfortably in his chair, waiting for me to begin the tour. There was already a smile between his rosy cheeks.

In the front of the store, games such as D&D and Lorcana sprawled across shelf displays. Empty gaming tables invitingly filled one side of the wall.

Yet, as I followed Mrs. Claus toward the back of the shop, I noticed a red fence separating the store from the Workshop experience. The magic had already begun.

 
Looking through the open gateway, I watched a little elf climb up his rope, in a hurry to get upstairs to the Elves’ shop. His pointed hat was Christmas green, a contrast to the softer teal used throughout the rest of the store.

Hundreds of Santa Claus figurines and Christmas memorabilia gave way to a huge, silvery tree, its branches all decorated by members of the community. A reindeer-drawn sled is perched high above the other decor, a gift from an equally Christmas-loving friend.

They’re not the only ones who have added to the proprietors’ collection of Christmas knick knacks, however.

“People have given us some things and we’ve put them to use,” Jester — Mrs. Claus, really, with her tall, white hair and red, Santa Claus patterned shoes — said. “We always try to reuse, recycle, reimagine. We’re crafty people.”

Evidence of the statement runs across the store, from the penguin bowling game Powell created out of a pallet crate to the dresser Jester cleaned up and painted teal to host yet more Santa Claus statues. 

My personal favorite, however, is Santa’s list of names, bedazzled from a baby names book so Santa always knows the children he’s speaking to. 

It’s the personal touches that truly make the experience.

It’s why Powell and Jester added a second Santa’s throne downstairs.

As a former Special Ed teacher, it was important to Powell to create a space where children with all levels of mobility or accessibility could sit with Santa and receive a toy.

 “I don’t think it’s much different myself,” Powell said, speaking about how the experience for those with accommodations might differ. “I have a degree in special needs teaching with kids, I was a professional clown and magician, and I worked for two different children’s museums in my lifetime and four different schools . . . Everything’s led me to do this.”

The experience, he explained, is for everyone. And an experience is truly what it is.

From tracking Santa’s course to listening to the North Pole’s radio station and from pulling on a lever to determine one’s naughty or niceness (I’ve been good this year, thankfully) to eating cookies and playing with model trains, there’s a lot for participants to do.

But the experience isn’t just for kids, as Jester explained.

“You’re not paying to see Santa,” she said. “You’re paying for the experience and it’s a family experience. We want the adults to be as excited to be able to do this as the kids.”

It’s why Jester makes the offer to adults, too, to take their picture with Santa or herself. It’s why, when you look along the top shelves of Santa’s workshop room, there’s toys from multiple generations. 

The ladybug toy my youngest sister had sat beside the same Barbie doll that I dressed up when I was a kid. There were toys I recognized from many of the photographs I’ve seen from when my dad was a little boy.

More than the experience itself, however, is the beauty of its impact and how it’s affected not only the children who whole-heartedly believed a reindeer crashed into the roof when the shop had a small water leak last year, but Mr. and Mrs. Claus themselves.

“I think Santa needs to be more of a real person than a cartoon character, and so I try to portray him as a real person,” Powell said. “Most of the city calls me Santa Boe, and I’ve been told I am the Santa of this city . . . I have to be beyond reproach.”

It caused Powell to stop drinking in public, to quit smoking and cursing, and to truly be himself instead of conforming to others’ expectations of him.

After meeting Jester, especially, Santa learned to truly live into the Christmas spirit year round, something the couple hopes to do together after their wedding this December. In the Christmas spirit, too, of course, they plan to take an Elf on the Shelf on their honeymoon, keeping track of his misadventures abroad.

Yet, the Magic Corner’s Santa’s Workshop Experience isn’t ultimately about that simple joy of presents and elves. It’s about the connection that comes from being known by those in your community. It’s about storytelling, and fostering the dreams and beliefs of Blackford County’s next generation. It’s about hope and it’s about love and about living without shame.

It’s about embracing just a bit of real Christmas magic.

Magic Corner’s Santa’s Workshop Experience will be available during select hours Wednesdays and Saturdays until December 24. Current ticket prices are $15 per person ($20 per person after December 23) and should be reserved by calling (765) 330-2046. Limited walk-in tours may also be available. The Magic Corner games store is located at 201 W. Washington St., Hartford City, IN 47348.