Butler’s (Stuffed) Animal House Is a Halloween Must-See

Even a guy who  instead of tooth decay-inducing candy can be struck by an “only in Mill Valley” moment from time to time.

One such moment arrived at Burton Butler’s doorstep two years ago in the form of a young girl returning to his Lomita Drive home the day after Halloween, hoping to return the stuffed animals she’d received the night before.

“She said, ‘Can I return this? It just isn’t speaking to me,’” Butler said. “Only in Mill Valley.”

The girl is one of hundreds of kids who have been showing up at Butler’s house each year on Halloween for the past 23 years, hoping to snag a stuffed treasure that stands out from the mountain of sweet treats they bring home after a night of trick-or-treating.

“It can get to be a little traffic jam on Lomita,” Butler said. “Over the years, it’s become an event and it gets over 400 kids.”

Butler, who used to own Montessori schools in Marin and the East Bay, grew tired of seeing students jacked up on their sugar-laden Halloween spoils.

“The kids had to be scraped off the walls and I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he said.

Butler didn’t want to simply boycott. Instead, he sought a way to serve up a different slice of Halloween fun. He goes to garage sales throughout the year, as well as places like Goodwill, looking for new or like-new stuffed animals for the next year’s giveaway. He also gets more donations than he can handle.

“I can afford to be very picky,” he said. “I always end up with plenty, and the kids can take any one they want.”

Butler especially gets a kick out of seeing little children haul off stuffed animals two and three times larger than they are.

“There might be 60 kids in the living room at any one time,” he said. “Parents often look in and just stay outside. But the kids are very well behaved. Even the teens who have been coming here for years.”

Given the deluge of kids that start arriving after noon each Halloween, Butler often needs some help. He’s hired Tam students in the past to help him out, and this year he has two friends to assist him.

“I always say, ‘we go until we run out,’ but we never run out,” he said.

The 411: is at 31 Lomita Drive, starting at noon on Monday, Oct. 31.