Since 2013, Animation in Motion has been held at Oak Creek Shopping Center in Niceville. First, in the former Food World location and then in the former Kmart store. Both locations are now occupied by tenants.
With no home for the Holidays, Niceville’s Christmas Lady says this year there will be no Animation in Motion Christmas display.
“We don’t have a location,” said Debbie Lewis, fondly known as the Christmas Lady. “We have scoured Niceville, Seminole, Fort Walton, Crestview—even as far as Freeport and Mossy Head—and found nothing available.”
Since 2013, Animation in Motion has been held at Oak Creek Shopping Center in Niceville. First, in the former Food World location and then in the former Kmart store. Both locations are now occupied by tenants.
“I can’t say enough about Oak Creek,” said Debbie. “It was like a dream come true.”
Animation in Motion features more than 700 animated dolls in themed scenes, a Christmas Village with more than 1,000 pieces, electric trains, decorated trees, entertainment, and more Christmas fun. It is the most popular Christmas display in Okaloosa County.
Debbie and her husband, Charles Payne, have held the annual Christmas festivities nearly every year since 1994. It was not held in 2008 and 2012 for the same reason it is not being held in 2017: no location.
“It takes a lot of space,” Debbie told Niceville.com. “Twenty-seven thousand to 33,000 square feet is what we need to have the sort of display that everyone is used to.”
Even if someone was to step up now, Debbie said it is too late for 2017 because of the time and effort it would take to design and set up the display in a new location. In all, Debbie needs a location for about 90 days: 30 days before opening; 30 days for the display; and 30 days to take it down.
Originally the display was hosted at Debbie’s Niceville home, but the crowds grew each Holiday season, and parking became a problem. So, in 2007, a scaled-down version of Animation in Motion was moved offsite to the Niceville Civic Complex.
The space limitations at the Civic Complex led Debbie to seek out a larger venue which she found in 2009 at Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach.
The next couple of years, 2010-2011, the Christmas display was back in Niceville at a local church.
Most years, Debbie and her volunteers are kept busy day and night during November setting up the many Christmas-themed displays for the opening of Animation In Motion at Thanksgiving. This year, Debbie said all the animated dolls, decorated trees, and Christmas Villages remain tightly packed in five storage sheds waiting for another Christmas season.
“It feels weird not being there now getting things ready,” said Debbie. “It’s going to be a very boring Christmas for me.”
Have a location for Animation in Motion next Christmas? Contact Debbie through her website, www.thenicevillechristmaslady.com.
