Christmas often is called the most wonderful time of the year, and downtown Nashua is ready to experience an influx of good cheer, as well as a large swell of visitors, during today’s 26th Annual Winter Holiday Stroll.

The Telegraph office will serve as event headquarters with free cookies and coffee, selfie stations for commemorative pictures, access to restrooms and a lobby in which event attendees may step inside for a break out of the cold.

We also will give away holiday copies of The Telegraph’s Thanksgiving edition, which includes this year’s stroll map and an entry form for a chance to win $500 cash plus a local gift basket.

Make sure you stop by at see us at 110 Main St. For those who are able, we hope you will make a donation to the community’s Santa Fund while you are here. Toys, gift cards and monetary donations are needed as part of this year’s drive, and checks may be made payable to United Way of Greater Nashua with Santa Fund in the memo.

It is anticipated nearly 35,000 people will walk down Main Street as part of the annual tradition that kicks off the holiday season locally. The stroll will begin at 4:30 p.m., with a candlelit procession from City Hall to Railroad Square, home of the city’s official Christmas tree.

The tree’s lights will be turned on for the first time this season, when stroll participants arrive at the square. Afterward, a bevy of festivities will abound downtown, to include live music, food and more.

Many downtown businesses will have activities or specials planned for early in the day. Among the scheduled adventures is Santa’s Village, which is open from 1-4 p.m. and then again from 5:45-9:45 p.m. at 30 Temple St. That also is where Santa will be for the youngsters and those who still are young at heart.

The stroll is listed as the largest event of the year in Southern New Hampshire. Yet, we have found there is a sense of closeness and community that wraps those in attendance like the comfort of a warm hug or a favorite scarf on a winter day.

Downtown Nashua stops for a day. Traffic is diverted, and modern technology takes a back seat as attendees are transported to a simpler time and place. The stroll is a chance to live a Hallmark movie moment, versus just watching one on TV, and it’s one of the special events that makes Nashua feel like home for the holidays.

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