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“I believe. I believe. Even though it’s silly, I believe,” little Suzy repeats over and over.
You see, Suzy is having a crisis of faith.
Because she didn’t get what she wanted for Christmas, she doesn’t believe that the nice old man with the white beard is actually Santa Claus even though the New York State Supreme Court had just declared him to be the “one and only true” Kris Kringle.
Suzy wanted a house. Not a dollhouse, mind you, but a real house with a backyard and swing and everything else that goes with it.
And when she didn’t get it … well, you should know the rest of the story by now.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we are talking about the plot of the 1947 classic movie “Miracle on 34th Street.”
John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood – as little Suzy, of course – team to tell the heart-warming story of a fill-in Macy’s Department Store Santa Claus who believes that he is old Kris Kringle himself.
It’s one of our favorite holiday movies. (At least one member of our editorial board believes it just might be the best movie ever made, but we rarely agree with him anyway.)
But what has a movie that’s 71 years old done to land on our opinion page?
The F.M. Kirby Center will be showing the classic flick tomorrow as one of the many activities going on in downtown Wilkes-Barre as part of Small Business Saturday.
In addition to all the great local business available for holiday shopping, the Kirby Center will be hosting a Holiday Art Market and the Holiday Pop-Up Shops in Midtown Village will be opening for the season.
The Holiday Pop-Up Shops will feature some of Northeastern PA’s best independent retailers in 41 South Main St. Starting tomorrow, the shops will be open Friday through Sunday until Dec. 23.
A ribbon cutting will be held at the Pop-Up Shops on Saturday.
Throughout the day, more than 50 small businesses, both in the downtown and throughout Greater Wilkes-Barre, will offer special deals or discounts.
So as you recover from your Thanksgiving feast and Black Friday shopping, carve out some time in your Saturday plans to be in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
You will definitely want to spend some time at the pop-up shops and Holiday Art Market. You can even make a day out of it and enjoy lunch or dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in the area.
It will be a great way to keep the holiday spirit going throughout the weekend.
We just highly recommend that you take the time to see “Miracle on 34th Street” on the big silver screen.
After all, we mustn’t let Suzy down.
