Oh my goodness. Without realizing it and not being full prepared for the array of emotions connected with my current age (68) and being in the 2021 Christmas season, something inside me is brewing, percolating and creating a resonance of feelings colliding between memories from childhood and my desire to enjoy the beauty of Advent as I prepare my mind and heart to celebrate the birth of Christ. My mind was drawn back to childhood and young adult years growing up in Saginaw which had a thriving downtown business district which offered a variety of department stores, mostly owned by an individual family versus a large chain operation. We had Morley Brothers, Heavenrich’s, Weichmann’s, Edwards Men’s Shop, Seitner’s, Jacobson’s, Town & Country, The Village…along with JC Penney, Sears, and Montgomery Ward. 

Today, I have been envisioning how Christmas shopping has changed from my days of being a wide eyed child, fascinated by the lights and decor in all the department stores and Christmas carols playing through overhead systems, the beautiful melodies pouring outside to fill snowy streets and sidewalks crowded with shoppers. I can still see and remember with great fondness the Christmas that dad, mom and I went shopping after dinner one night, visiting a crowded downtown that was bursting with happy families carrying packages, scurrying in and out of the stores, all under the streetlights and fresh falling snow. I was old enough to be allowed to shop by myself that evening, as long as I told dad which store I was going to and where we would meet when finished. I can still feel the energy that was created from walking through large groups of other families as we all made our way up and down Genesee Street or Washington Avenue to our favorite stores. Walking a couple blocks or making the jaunt around an entire block to visit Seitner’s or Jacobson’s was worth any amount of time spent on snowy sidewalks. A visit to Weichmann’s was a must as the Christmas decorations hung from the mezzanine dazzled the eye and helped to fill hearts with the beauty of Christmas. Every store, every business was decorated with lights, Christmas trees, window displays to delight small children, and music to herald the person of the season, Christ Himself.

Today, sadly, those kinds of shopping experiences have faded from most of our downtown districts. On numerous visits back to Saginaw, I have noted the decay and vacancy of thriving businesses from its downtown. Many of the buildings are no longer there; they’ve been demolished, replaced with “green space”, while some still stand but they are doing so on the last legs of their brick foundations and cornerstones no longer revered by folks coming to this area of the city. Fortunately, in the last several years, a few new small businesses have opened, a farmer’s market has been birthed along the river near the Saginaw News building, and medical offices are slowly taking over some of the old storefronts. The contrast from vibrant days of the past have been replaced by an empty bleakness as once highly energized seasons of shopping slowly made their way to the growing suburbs. 

Also gone from the Christmas past, is the beautiful decor that storeowners took great pride in displaying to entice us into purchasing their wares. Window displays were elaborate and carefully assembled. I can’t remember the last time in recent years the joy of walking past a huge window adorned with beautiful items waiting to be wrapped and placed under a tree. Hearing the traditional sacred Christmas carols has been replaced with silence or merely the secular songs that leave out the Holy One, yet promote a guy wearing a red suit….holiday songs of good cheer and laughter, but not many of the Joy and Hope found in the Christ child.

Christmas experiences have changed in many ways and if I’m not careful, I find I’m allowing myself to be surrounded by their effects, too. I miss not having a downtown to shop. I miss those days when a department store could give me a beautiful memory. I miss crowded sidewalks, snow falling on my head under the lights along the walks. I miss having a sales clerk offering to wrap my purchase in beautiful paper complete with ribbon and bow–for free! And being dismissed with a hearty “Merry Christmas!” I miss Christmases past, but I’m deeply grateful for all the memories I hold dear, ones I cherish, and though I may not be able to recreate them without a nearby downtown shopping district, I am eternally thankful that the Christ child remains my focus as I make my purchases this Christmas, as I do my own wrapping of presents to place under our tree, as I listen to the classic songs that proclaim “Joy to the World, the Lord has come!”

Lights. Snow. Shoppers. Family. Gifts. Decor. They are all good and part of Christmas beauty. To this grown woman sitting here reminiscing about Christmas in the 70s, Christ was our focus then and He remains so this year and years to come. Thank you memories past….for the joy and love that lit up the streets and filled my heart with Christmas warmth.

Looking down Washington Avenue, JC Penney was on the left. Morley Brothers Building is on the right, a neighbor to Second National Bank which took up the corner. Also on the corner, is the Bancroft Building, which was home to a hotel, ballrooms, restaurants, and conference center for many years.