Now Dasher, now Dancer: 9 wooden reindeer spreading holiday cheer in Saint John

Nine wooden reindeer decorate part of a busy street in Saint John West, catching the eye of those passing by local business Doiron Sports Excellence.

The shop on Green Head Road is becoming a place where people stop and admire the handiwork of store owner Mark Doiron.

Doiron built the large reindeer on a whim last month and hopes they will spread some much-needed holiday cheer at the end of what has been a miserable year.

"Being in retail, being in this time, I just feel for everybody being in this spot that we are," Doiron said.

Doiron only intended to build one reindeer but the project quickly escalated to all nine once he announced his intentions on Facebook.

"I feel good by doing it to give some people some good feeling," he said.

Not an artist, or someone who spends time making wooden crafts, Doiron said he headed to Google to download an outline that he printed out to trace the reindeer — each one using two sheets of plywood, and coming in more than two metres high.

Each reindeer took between four to five hours to make.

The artwork on the reindeer was done by students at schools in the area.

"We got everybody involved as much as we could — and I'm pretty sure the kids loved it," Doiron said.

Doiron said he was inspired to make the attractive Christmas scene when he recently saw a picture of "Murphyville" — which was started by the late MLA Lou Murphy in 1966.

"It used to be down the street that we used to go to as kids," Doiron said of the popular Christmas spectacle that ended in 2012.

Doiron said the reindeer display is the start of a Christmas tradition that he's calling "Doironville."

Memories of Murphyville came dashing back to Phyllis Reid, who stopped to take pictures of the the reindeers to send to her grandchildren in B.C.

"I think it's beautiful and at night it's really nice with all the lights here," said Reid, who has lived in the neighborhood for 62 years.

"I just hope that we get a lot of crowds here."

And the new display caught the attention of kids in the area on Friday.

Reese Higgins, 7, saw the reindeer while she was out for a walk with her younger sister and caretaker.

"I thought they were nice," Higgins said, adding that Rudolph is her favourite reindeer in the display.