Gingerbread Jimmi is ready to celebrate Christmas in July. The character whose holiday story and gingerbread house competition was created by J.R. Holbrook will add a new chapter to its legacy with the debut of the Gingerbread Jimmi Cookie Cruiser on Saturday during Park City’s Fourth of July Parade on Main Street. “I’m so excited to reveal the car to everyone,” Holbrook said. “We’ll have Santa Claus and the new Gingerbread Jimmi mascot with us,” he said. “We’ll also have all the Junior Jimmis walk with us. They will have white Gingerbread Jimmi T-shirts on and they will hand out stickers with our QR code.” Holbrook bought a 2013 red Volkswagen Beetle, which he turned into the Cookie Cruiser, last autumn from his friend, Angie Rodriguez. “She’s a dear friend and we’ve done so many things together over the years,” Holbrook said. “She had to buy an SUV, and asked if we were ready to buy the bug.” After purchasing the car, Holbrook and his brother and business partner Todd, began making plans. “Angie told us that we should, ‘Go big or go home’ and suggested we wrap the car,” Holbrook said. “But since the wrapping isn’t too great when it’s cold, we waited until now.” The wrap will feature something on every side of the car, according to Holbrook. “One side will be winter in Park City, and the other side is Christmas in Park City,” he said. “The front will have our website and a QR code. The back will also have a QR code and the words, ‘Make a Wish on the Polar Star,’ which is the whole idea of the story.” Holbrook chose this year’s parade for the car’s reveal. “We haven’t been in the parade for a couple of years, so we absolutely had to be in the one that celebrates America’s 250th anniversary,” he said. “These parades are so fun, and the last time we participated, we handed out hundreds of ‘Gingerbread Jimmi’ songs and story CDs along the route. We are looking forward to being in the parade again, because we love this community. It’s our home.” The Gingerbread Jimmi Cookie Cruiser is a game changer for Holbrook. “I told Todd that we can now take this car to any event,” he said. “We can go to Main Street and spend an hour handing out Gingerbread Jimmi cookies to the kids and families who walk by.” In fact, the brothers plan to embark on a July Christmas tour around the West after Park City’s Fourth of July celebration, and the tour stops will be posted on the Gingerbread Jimmi Facebook and Instagram pages, Holbrook said.  “We’re going to pass out Gingerbread Jimmi cookies, T-shirts, hats and stuff at all of our stops,” he said.  Holbrook has thought about a Gingerbread Jimmi Cookie Cruiser for a few years, because he wanted another physical presence in addition to the Gingerbread Jimmi benches that are located on Main Street by Java Cow, 401 Main St., and at Kimball Junction in front of J.W. Allen Sons Toys and Candy, 1675 Redstone Center Drive. “Those benches are so cute and highly loved, and we continue to maintain them,” he said. Gingerbread Jimmi author and creator J.R. Holbrook in the foreground, and his brother and business partner Todd Holbrook stand by a 2013 Volkswagon Beetle before it’s tranformation into the Gingerbread Jimmi Cookie Cruiser. The car which will be wrapped with Gingerbread Jimmi images, will make its debut on Saturday during Park City’s Fourth of July Parade. Credit: Photo courtesy of J.R. Holbrook Prior to the cruiser debut on Saturday, Holbrook plans to release a new song — “Gingerbread Jimmi: Polaris” — on Wednesday through iTunes and other streaming platforms. “It has no words, and the song is an instrumental of Gingerbread Jimmi’s theme,” he said. “The song is so beautiful and it’s so big.” The original theme song was composed by Joshua Sohn, who is now composing music for film, Holbrook said. “Josh told me that he’s revisiting the songs we’ve done and wanted to update them,” he said. “So, we are also working on the ‘Gingerbread Jimmi — Musical Audiobook,’ which will come out for Christmas 2026.” The audiobook, produced by Holbrook Studios and AubioBee Productions, will include the newly remastered songs and be read by Santa and Mrs. Claus, according to Holbrook. “There are so many things happening this year,” he said. A cookie like Gingerbread Jimmi is the perfect mascot for America’s 250th anniversary, Holbrook said. “That’s because gingerbread is deeply tied to the birth of the United States and the founding fathers themselves,” he said. “I found a bunch of information as I was researching America’s 250th anniversary and gingerbread cookies.” Holbrook discovered George Washington officially appointed a German-American baker, Christopher Ludwick, as the Baker General of the Continental Army, and Ludwick baked large quantities of gingerbread and hardtack bread to keep the troops fed, energized and motivated during the hard winters of the Revolutionary War. “As an American gingerbread cookie, Jimmi represents the very food that helped sustain the fight for independence,” Holbrook said. Early Americans also used cookies to celebrate freedom, according to Holbrook. “Bakers created special, heavily spiced American gingerbread cookies stamped with patriotic symbols like eagles and stars,” he said. “Jimmi, being an American gingerbread cookie, directly mirrors this 250-year-old tradition of using gingerbread to celebrate American liberty and community gatherings. Jimmi represents how early Americans took an old-world tradition, adapted it with local ingredients, and created something uniquely American. He is also a delicious, walking symbol of the American melting pot.” Park City Fourth of July Parade When: 11 a.m. on Saturday Where: Main Street Cost: Free Web: tinyurl.com/5xkhkmmm and gingerbreadjimmi.com The post Gingerbread Jimmi rolls in Christmas during the Fourth of July appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less