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Macy's Prepares To Unveil Holiday Windows

LINKS: Slideshow | Kicking off the holiday season in Pittsburgh!

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Heather Lang/KDKA

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: Sneak Peek At Macy's Holiday Window Displays

The countdown is on for Light-Up Night.

While planners get ready for a night of entertainment and fireworks, the push is on for one of Pittsburgh's most popular holiday traditions - the grand unveiling of the Macy's holiday window displays.

For the 19th year, Macy's window manager George Arnold is in charge of getting the department store in the Christmas spirit one window at a time.

"The planning process starts ahead of time," said Arnold. "We start a month before Light-Up Night to start to do the construction and painting and engineering."

This year's overall theme is "Believe – How a letter gets to Santa Claus."

"The campaign follows the story of the letter as it leaves the mailbox and starts its journey to Santa," explains Arnold.

The idea ties into Macy's "Believe" campaign. It's something they started last year, and part of that entails parents bringing their children into the store, filling out a letter to Santa and dropping it in the box.

For every letter Macy's gets, they donate a dollar to the Make-A-Wish campaign.

Meanwhile, 10 workers are helping as the rush is on to have the windows ready for the big unveiling.

"The first window, the mail has come in to the North Pole, and it's starting to be processed. From here, it goes to where the letters get their wings," says Arnold. "This is the last window in the story, and you can see Santa's a little overwhelmed."

The construction is done under much secrecy behind curtains and panels.

"It's so great to be a part of it and part of the history, and the people who turn out for it year after year and see their reaction," says Arnold. "It's very rewarding."

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