There is plenty to be excited for as we quickly switch gears for 2025. While we don’t have the numbers done quite yet (you’ll have to come to the annual meeting to get them!), this was nothing short of another tremendous year. We’ll talk about the year as a whole at the annual meeting in a few weeks, but in the meantime we had a rather eventful December to reflect on.

First, our annual Christmas market in Des Moines was another major success this year. Shaun, Julie, and Tami ran the hut over the weekend and Sarah McDonald volunteered to help on Friday. We loaded up a 15-foot uHaul with as much product as we could, built more displays to be used outside, and sampled about 500 servings of gløgg. The weather was unseasonably warm and people came out in droves. Between 11am and 9pm on both Friday and Saturday, there wasn’t even a moment to step away from the register.

We knew going in that it was going to be a very busy four days, but we didn’t expect this. Last year we grossed over $26,000 in sales and averaged a transaction about every 2 minutes. This year, we hit $36,000 and 1,100 transactions in 30 hours of our hut being open. For perspective, that’s more revenue than we had in the entire month of June this year, at the peak of Summer travel. To go through that much product in a short time is exhausting work and we’re thankful to have the staff on hand willing to make that possible. Additionally, and this should come as no surprise, we are looking to have 2 to 3 additional people with us next year to help. As fun as this festival is, we found the limit for what 3 people can do to manage something like this. It continues to grow every year and we are already looking forward to next year.

What’s even more impressive between our recent successes during both Julefest and Christkindlmarket is how we managed to achieve so much with what we had. As those following along already know, our Denmark shipment was delayed significantly this year. It’s the first year we hadn’t received our goods by Thanksgiving, and the bulk of it didn’t even arrive by Christmas. Much of what we ordered had been intended for these events specifically, and while it is a little disappointing to have to shelve these items for next year, we can’t help but be excited at the results regardless.

And yes, our shipment is finally here. It arrived in three parts and in a manner we hope to never repeat again. First, when we placed our orders in September, our Danish suppliers had not yet received all of their goods yet themselves from the manufacturers. This meant we would have to plan for a secondary shipment in late-October / early-November by air. The typical time for an air shipment is 1-2 weeks, so that wouldn’t be an issue. It would arrive by the second week in November and we would be fine... but that’s not what happened. Our sea shipment arrived in Chicago on November 3rd where it remained detained by US Customs for nearly 2 months while we waited for each Danish supplier to come up with the appropriate paperwork for the special exam that was to take place.

In the meantime, coordinating the air shipment also took longer than expected. The goods arrived later than initially planned and coordinating with businesses 7 hours ahead is difficult itself without factoring in how busy these companies are during the holiday season. Beyond these reasons, and we still aren’t sure as to why, our air shipment was delayed by an additional month, and we didn’t receive these goods until 6:30 AM on Christmas Eve.

The second Christmas miracle occurred when we received word on Christmas Eve that Customs had released our main shipment. 12 pallets arrived at the windmill on Friday from a driver that didn’t know where the windmill. He also didn’t have a pallet jack. Shaun was able to push 11 of the pallets to the back of the truck where Julie and Jo, as well as Cloid Farley and Andy Anderson, were ready to carry boxes inside.

And finally, the last of our shipment arrived last Monday: an 11-pound box of vimpels that our exporter sent by sea, by itself, by accident. In case anyone is wondering, it costs approximately $1,000 to ship a singular 18 x 12 x 12 box from Denmark to the US by sea. Thankfully we were able to have most of that waived due to the shipper’s error(s).

As we write this, there are towers of boxes in all directions. The shipment arrived just as we start our annual inventory count, so it is taking a long time between processing what has just arrived for orders and finalizing counts in the store before we can move everything around to make it all fit. It’s a long process, but we will get there. Plenty of our new stuff has already been added to the store and we encourage everyone to stop down sometime to see it all for themselves. From LED candles to model ships to teddy bears, we have quite a bit of new merchandise this year that we know people will be excited about. It will take a little more time before the store is more presentable again, but we have some fun changes coming very soon.

Finally, our annual meeting is coming up and will be held on Monday, January 27 at the Elk Horn Town Hall, 7pm. This event is completely free to attend and will feature a presentation by Shaun on the state of the organization, notable events of 2024, and plans for 2025 and beyond. We’ll have two new board members to elect or re-elect, and there will be smørrebrød to snack on, too. This is a great way to learn about our membership program, volunteering opportunities, and more. Come join us for the evening and learn more about what we do and the help we need to make 2025 an even better year.

Pictured below: Julie and Faye after we got the shipment unloaded. Not pictured: another room full of boxes behind the camera.