O’FALLON, Mo. — After a wobbly six-week run, one of the area’s newest holiday attractions closed up shop last week. But not without one more curveball.
Jingle! has left town with at least a hundred employees still waiting on their final paychecks.
In an email to workers Friday, company CEO Mark McKee blamed “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control” for not having the funds available to meet payroll for the pop-up event’s last eight days.
“We understand how distressing and frustrating this news must be,” McKee wrote.
He did not respond to questions on Saturday. Instead, the company sent a statement.
“The festival faced significant setbacks when its flagship attraction, the ice-skating trail, was delivered three weeks late,” it said. The delay resulted in “financial losses and reputational harm.”
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The situation was complicated by the event’s licensor, which redirected payroll funds to other expenses, it said. “We are fully committed to resolving these issues.”
Jailan Thomas of Chesterfield is concerned she won’t be able to make her rent this month. Thomas was between jobs when she heard about Jingle!, a concept that originated in Kansas City, Kansas, and expanded in 2024 to O’Fallon’s CarShield Field and a location in Springfield, Missouri.
The event pledges 4 million lights, inflatables, snow-tubing, ice-skating, musicians and food trucks. Adult tickets for evening entry started at $34. Parking, skating and tubing, among other options, cost extra.
Thomas, who describes herself as a “Christmas lover,” was hired in November to work at the “vendor village,” a shopping area inside the stadium.
“This fits so perfect,” she thought.
When she arrived on her first day, she was promoted to general manager because someone else hadn’t shown up. Thomas made $25 an hour, working mostly eight-hour shifts through the event’s 29 days of operation.
From the beginning, things at Jingle! were rocky: The debut was delayed by a week. The promised “ice-skating trail” hadn’t arrived. Patrons complained of icy walkways, long lines and sparse entertainment. Many took to social media to complain.
“It was so disappointing,” said Cammie Kern, who was visiting from North Dakota.
Jingle! issued an apology and offered refunds to many of the 3,600 visitors that night.
“We acknowledge areas for improvement and are actively implementing changes,” the company said in a statement on Dec. 1.
But attendance didn’t rebound as expected.
“It slowly got better,” Thomas said. “But that haunted them to the end.”
In an interview in November, McKee told the Post-Dispatch that 180,000 people attended Jingle! in Kansas City in 2023. The company built its budget around 120,000 visitors in O’Fallon, but only 45,000 came, according to CarShield Field figures.
Thomas said that she is out almost $700, which includes the time-and-a-half she was promised for working Christmas Day.
She said a complaint has been sent to the Missouri attorney general by Play9Sports, which manages the O’Fallon Hoots, the baseball team that plays at CarShield Field, and had a contract with Jingle!
McKee said in his email that more information about a payment timeline will be provided by Wednesday. But Jasmine Chandler is not sure the money will come soon enough.
Chandler, who lives in St. Charles, took the job at a Jingle! “merch hut” to earn extra money for her classes at Webster University.
The semester begins this month, and her tuition bill is due. She needs her $500 within the next couple of weeks.
“I’m going to miss the deadline,” said Chandler. “I’m probably going to have to drop my classes.”
Robert Cohen
