Christmas spirit thriving downtown

The Downtown Christmas Open House kicked off on a very foggy Friday morning. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this on Saturday, we haven’t all blown away in the predicted severe weather Friday night.

Despite the less than stellar weather for our first day, I was excited to see how many businesses dressed up in their best for the holiday.

The open house runs through Tuesday, and on Tuesday night we’ll be in the courtyard of Haffy’s with Santa for more celebrations.

I hope everyone will take time during the open house to stop in and show their support for downtown businesses and organizations. If you swing by the DAR, we’re giving away knit snowmen ornaments with embroidered scarves and hats, along with coloring pages and cookies. You can also take festive photos in our lobby with our Christmas cutouts of a snowman and Christmas tree.

I know many others in the downtown have worked hard on their Christmas displays, and are also offering specials.

Locations where you can enter drawings to win cash prizes include: Haffy’s Sports Bar & Grill; Myrtle’s Place; McNeely Shoe Service; Jim Faith’s Office Supplies; Foxtrot Coffee; Earth and Water Bathhouse; Saks Thrift Ave; St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store; Aflac on Main Street; Poplar Bluff Municipal Library; The Dirt Shack; Black River Art Gallery/Cape Arrowhead; Accredited Traffic Offender Services; and the Daily American Republic.

The cash giveaways will be announced at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Haffy’s courtyard. Winners must be present to win.

Voting is also open on our Facebook page for the best downtown Christmas decorations. Many of the above businesses are participating, along with Aflac on Main Street and Forum Fifty Fifty.

Everyone is in the Christmas spirit and hopes to share their goodwill with visitors new and old.

And all of the businesses I’ve named here are just a few of the people doing good things for downtown. We also have several buildings in the process of renovating and upgrading for new tenants.

Good things are happening around every corner, so come and see us!

Donna Farley is the editor of the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at dfarley.dar@gmail.com.