LOOSE ENDS: The town looks too good for Santa?

The same core group of Princeton merchants was doing the same spectacular job they had done in Christmases past, but many others did very little or nothing.

By Pam Hersh Special Writer
    I waited for the phone call. It never came. Like a rejected suitor, I wondered what I had done or said to deserve being dissed in this fashion. It must have been the way I looked — looked at the windows, that is.
   Every year in December, I have become Judge Pam by serving on a panel of judges, consisting of other longtime Princeton aficionados, including Marvin Reed, Anne Reeves and Kristin Appelget. We were charged with passing judgment on the quality of the Christmas/Chanukah/ Kwanzaa-decorated windows and store facades of the downtown shops. We often had to endure the bitter cold and “wintry mix” — which sounds like something you would buy in the candy and nut section of CVS — in order to inspect the holiday displays of every store front on Nassau Street, between Harrison Street and Bayard Lane, and on Witherspoon Street, between Nassau and Paul Robeson Place.
    Although some have grumbled that we overlooked the “east end” shops and chose our friends as winners, I know that we were equal opportunity stalkers peering in and at every store window. We took no bribes — the most extravagant offer being a cup of cocoa and a plate of cookies from a retailer who may have confused us with another Christmas season intruder.
    The Borough Merchants of Princeton (BMP) have always sponsored the contest and given prizes to the winners in a variety of categories. But, in recent years, the enthusiasm for window decorating seems to have diminished, said BMP President Kathleen Morolda. When the BMP sent out its newsletter advertising the contest, she and others sensed that the interest in window decorating seemed to be getting dimmer and dimmer. In fact, last year I observed that the same core group of merchants did the same spectacular job they had done in Christmases past, but many others did very little or nothing.
    So this year, the Borough Merchants focused its energies and resources on the joyful blue “Old Fashioned Christmas” banners mounted along the entire length of Nassau Street, the wreaths on the light posts, the strolling Santa and musicians, ands the horse-and-carriage rides — all of which cost the BMP thousands of dollars throughout the holiday season.
    For their part, the Nassau Inn plans and pays for its exterior and interior decorations, and Palmer Square Management makes Palmer Square’s streets and buildings sparkle, with the jewel of the holiday decorations being the tree on the front lawn of the Nassau Inn.
    Kathie Morolda and I tried to analyze the reasons for the lackluster decorations among many of the retailers. Is it the economy? Is it that we have gotten so politically or culturally correct that we are afraid to recognize the season? Or is it simply that the town looks so good — thanks to the efforts of the Borough Merchants and Palmer Square — that the individual merchants feel their efforts would just be superfluous? A few years ago, one store owner said that “the town looks great, nothing I could do would get attention, other than have Mrs. Santa in a red bikini jump out of dish of plum pudding.”
    I agree the town does look great and is conducive for strolling and picture taking, but window decorations draw people into the individual stores. The shop owners have to be inspired to decorate not only at Christmas time, but throughout the year. However, it appears to me that the BMP’s initial predictions about the bah-humbug window decorations attitude may have been too dire. I have noticed several merchant window displays — particularly east (north) of Washington Road on Nassau Street — that are particularly festive. Check out the two flower shops and the Ivy Inn.
    So I will go forward in an elfish way and do my own judging, and declare not only best in the show awards, but also best–never-previously- won-the-window-decorating-contest award.
    Member of the Sustainable Princeton Committee suggested that the retailers do something to encourage walking and biking during the holiday season, or perhaps create a window display to celebrate sustainability. After all, green is not only a holiday color but also the color of the sustainable movement.
    As long as no one suggests that Mrs. Claus or Judge Pam jump out of a pile of recycled wrapping paper, I think Princeton retailers could make other communities green with envy with sustainable and holiday themed window displays.
A longtime resident of Princeton, Pam Hersh is vice president for government and community affairs with Princeton HealthCare System and a former managing editor of The Princeton Packet.