<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3GqbWn_1Gq5t5Mh00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3GqbWn_1Gq5t5Mh00" width="1000" height="684" ><figcaption>Lonnie Hanzon stands by a cardboard fireplace, one of the many items up for auction. Front Porch photo by Christie Gosch</figcaption></figure>Artist Lonnie Hanzon likes to imagine where his creations might end up next: a pink pony beside a Pegasus unicorn in someone’s living room, or one of 2,000 Santas displayed in a local bar or tucked into a collection on a Denver mantel.They’re all pieces of Camp Christmas, the immersive holiday experience that has packed up its emotional baggage and put its whimsical treasures up for auction.“It all gets scattered, and all that energy gets scattered, too,” Hanzon said.It’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye to the kitschy ode to the holidays that began at Stanley Marketplace in 2019. About 70,000 people came through the art installation that first year, but the interest and the money didn’t hold up through the years.“I wish it would have been a traditional thing,” Hanzon said. “I wish that people could have supported it like they did the first year.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3P5l28_1Gq5t5Mh00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3P5l28_1Gq5t5Mh00" width="1000" height="500" ><figcaption>Fireplaces lined the rooms of the Camp Christmas Express in 2025. Front Porch photos by Linda Kotsaftis</figcaption></figure>Camp Christmas, he added, was all about storytelling, “stimulating a different part of the brain, something that challenges you or moves you or changes you, but something you’re not as likely to repeat.”From its beginnings in northwest Aurora to a pandemic-era at-home version, Camp Christmas traveled to Lakewood and back to Stanley Marketplace, then headed to Dallas before making one final express run in 2025 in the place where it all began.Hanzon bankrolled the final stop himself after losing the support of Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off-Center Productions, including hiring 32 employees for the season.“I don’t think people realize that when artists do these big things, we’re often putting our house on the line every time. It takes a lot of money, and it takes a lot of support. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t, and that’s OK,” he said.Hanzon said he didn’t get into the business for the money but to “create magical moments for kids and families.” It’s his calling, one in which “you give it all you can give,” but it’s time to move on to something else, he said.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2IALVH_1Gq5t5Mh00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2IALVH_1Gq5t5Mh00" width="1000" height="469" ><figcaption>Camp Christmas came back to Stanley Marketplace for its final run. Front Porch photos by Linda Kotsaftis</figcaption></figure>He pointed out the 250,000 people who wandered through the Camp Christmas pun trees and camp messages over the years; Hanzon considers the event a success on many levels, if not a financial one.One of the metrics is what he called “nose prints on the glass,” remembering his early days of decorating store windows for department stores.“I started costuming and window dressing and that sort of stuff, so I saw what impact you can make. The big payoff is when I see the little kids. That look of enchantment comes over their faces. It’s serious stuff to me,” Hanzon said.“If we raise a generation that does not seek or find magic, we’re kind of (in trouble) as a society. If you think back to any of your moments as a child or as a young adult when you were truly enchanted, when everything synced up right, those magical moments are some of the most real moments you’ll ever have.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1sLIVX_1Gq5t5Mh00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1sLIVX_1Gq5t5Mh00" width="750" height="1000" ><figcaption>Statues of carolers are part of the auction. Front Porch photo by Christie Gosch</figcaption></figure>Hanzon said he loved seeing two or three generations of families talking to each other and connecting in the installation. “That’s what it’s all about,” he said.Every Camp Christmas location inspired new stuff, so there’s a lot of it stored in his Lakewood studio, plus in 20,000 square feet of warehouse space. Storage isn’t cheap, he said, so it’s time to re-home that pink pony, unicorn, bears, and hundreds of other items.Hanzon isn’t selling everything. He’s holding back items that have special meaning to him and tucking them away, like the valuable art trees. The rest of it can go.A few familiar pieces will remain at Stanley Marketplace: garlands and bows, lamp posts, and vintage 1950s decorations. Knowing Camp Christmas might not continue, Hanzon wanted to leave the marketplace with “a little bit of the feel” of the experience.The rest are being sold at four auctions. One has already been completed; another is open now until Nov.11. The third auction starts Nov. 18, closing on Nov.25, and the final one opens Dec. 9 closing on the 16th.During a visit to Hanzon’s studio the day after the first auction in October, there were stacks of glass baubles, candy canes, and Santas awaiting the new owners who won them. Pun trees were stacked in a corner; a cardboard fireplace featured in the gift shop last year looked different in this setting.“It’s just stuff,” Hanzon said, sighing as he pointed to the crammed tables with nutcrackers and ornaments surrounding him.And when asked about retirement, he said he’s not there yet. He has more art in him and more holiday adventures ahead. He’ll likely still have his hands in something “Christmasy— just not 10 semi-trucks full.”Auction details are available at enchantmentbazaar.com.</div></body>

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Artist Lonnie Hanzon likes to imagine where his creations might end up next: a pink pony beside a Pegasus unicorn in someone’s living room, or one of 2,000 Santas displayed in a local bar or tucked into a collection on a Denver mantel. They’re all pieces of Camp Christmas,...

Camp Christmas: The Magic and Glitter Move On

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Artist Lonnie Hanzon likes to imagine where his creations might end up next: a pink pony beside a Pegasus unicorn in someone’s living room, or one of 2,000

Camp Christmas: The Magic and Glitter Move On

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