I was doing my routine skim of the Eagle Tribune about a week ago when I came across a real bummer of a comment on the latest installment of My Haverhill.

“I visited from FL last week. Where are the lights on downtown buildings? Where are the lights across Merrimack Street? How about on the fire station down by the river. Where’s the pride? Haverhill looks like a sad, washed up and run down city.”

As much as it stung, I agreed with the sentiment. At the time, the last time I had hung out downtown was during the Christmas Stroll, and the experience was definitely a mixed bag. On the one hand, I’d never seen so many people strolling around downtown at night before, which was pretty exciting! On the other hand, while there were quite a few activities planned and plenty of people trying to get into the spirit,  the streets were dimly lit and only a handful of storefronts (mainly just those participating in the event) were decorated for the season. The lamp posts were bare. Several groups of children approached us selling candy, but it was too dark to tell who or what the fundraiser was for. I went home feeling kind of sorry for Haverhill, and wondering what could be done to bring a little more holiday cheer to downtown.

I guess the Christmas Stroll was just a bit ahead of the holiday mirth curve, because since then I’ve noticed a surge in festive downtown window displays. In fact, tonight I took a jaunt through the snowy streets and what to my wondering eyes should appear? Christmas has arrived in Haverhill! Let’s take a look:

Trio of white trees at Art and Angles

Beautiful window boxes and tree at The Inside View

Tinsel tree at The Clip Joint

Jennie's Inc.

It should come as no surprise that my favorite windows of all belong to Jennie’s Inc. The whole storefront is packed with Christmas cheer, including lighted wreaths, trees, plastic Santas and one festive doe taxidermy- all ready for you to bring home for low, low prices. In fact, if you REALLY want to know what I want for Christmas…

Oh, yes please.

I’d be happy with either the reindeer head OR the accordion. I’m not picky!

I really hope that next year we can get our acts together and have the downtown fully spiffed by the Christmas Stroll. As that anonymous commenter proves, you never know who’s going to be passing through and we should always be sure our downtown is sending the right message* to visitors and potential future residents. And these downtown shopkeepers show us that together it only takes a bit of something special in each window to make a big impact overall.

*the message is “we’re awesome.”