Glad that most businesses are closed so those employes can enjoy their families. Thank you to all those like medical workers and police and fire fighters who must work to keep us safe on the holidays.

Yes, give everyone a day with the famiy!

What might be helpful for next year is for the DDA to collect from downtown merchants their hours in the days leading up to Christmas. For example, I was surprised at how many stores were open on Sunday the 23rd, & how late they were open; similarly, I was surprised by how early some stores closed (before 3) on the 24th. If the DDA kept this info in a table somewhere on the internet, you could link to it, so we could look up our favorite stores even as we headed out the door.

One other idea (which relates to the idea of letting people have time with their families at the other end of the Christmas season -- Thanksgiving. I've read that the people who are most keen to shop on Thanksgiving night or 5 am on "Black Friday" are people who are enjoy the spirit of competition the most. I wonder whether charities might benefit from holding special events in which families could engage in some kind of good-natured rivalry (e.g., at Gleaners, to pack the most backpacks or something) on Thanksgiving eve & promote that as an alternative to encouraging stores to open too early? Could be win-win -- discourage stores from opening early; benefit charities, give families who enjoy that sort of competitive rush time to be together & do something worthwhile.