Huhn to be honored with Abe Award

When she was approached last week and learned that she had been chosen for this year’s Abe Award recognition, Vandalia City Clerk Carla Huhn said she was more than surprised.

“I was shocked,” she said. “And after I got over the initial shock, I was very honored and very humbled to be recognized for an award such as this because there are so many other people who have won this award in the past and I have looked up to them and respected them.”

Huhn will be honored at the upcoming Fayette Greater Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet and Abe Award Presentation on Friday, March 3, at 8th Day Venue. A cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner to follow.

Huhn has worked as the city clerk for the past two years, and in addition to her work with the city, she helped organized the popular holiday events – Olde Tyme Christmas and Festival of Lights.

Huhn said she first started with OTC four years ago with the then economic director and enjoyed talking about the different ideas for the festival.

“It has just grown and grown, and it now has become a main attraction for the Christmas holiday seasons,” she said.

Olde Tyme Christmas, held every November, helps usher in the holiday season for not only Vandalia but its surrounding communities.

“It was like a Hallmark movie, and that had always been our goal,” she said. “Because when you come up the east side of town and you are by Taco Fiesta and you look at the downtown when it is all lit up, that is my favorite view. The Statehouse is all in white lights. All of the magic in between, We get so many compliments about how the downtown looks.”

Last winter was the first Olde Tyme Christmas presents: A Festival of Lights, where lighted displays were put up throughout the circle drive area of Rogier Park. The idea for a lights festival in Vandalia had always been in the back of her mind. She recalled visiting the Carlyle Christmas lights when her grandson s

Then one day last March, Huhn said she was driving by the park and began to brainstorm.

“I thought if not now then when?” Huhn said.

A volunteer committee was assembled to help make the event aa reality. After a summer time meeting in June,

But after that first display was purchased, there were 17 additional ones that week.

It was that community support that helped make these events so successful. From those volunteers who put in their own ideas, spent their own time out at the park to make sure the lights work, the city maintenance crew who used their expertise to make the park as festive as possible… it takes more than a village to make these holiday events happen, Huhn said.

“Downtown always looks so beautiful but I’m just the face of all of this,” she said. “I have a committee of volunteers who volunteer, they back me up and they make the downtown look beautiful.”

And getting to see the look on all of the young faces and their families who enjoyed the Festival of Lights makes all of the work worth it.

“That is the best part of all of it,” she said. “I always have a servant’s heart. You become a family. When you have a great group around you and spend so much time, you become a family. It’s an added bonus to being part of a volunteer group.”