POULSBO — Concerns that the national recession would knock the jolliness out of the season last month were unwarranted, according to business owners on Front Street. The general consensus among downtown business owners is that holiday sales weren’t just good — many of those on the corridor agreed that they were the best ever.

A random sampling of various stores provided substantial proof that for the majority of businesses, the poor sales which have plagued other retailers around the United States skipped over Little Norway’s best known district.

“We’re happy campers,” said Karen Suther, manager of Boehms Chocolates, explaining that the Front Street mainstay had broken its previous sales records for December. That’s quite a statement when one considers that the business has been serving up sweets in Poulsbo since 1984.

Plenty of corporate orders and “tons of local support” were what made the holiday so successful, Suther said, adding, “Even with those rainy, rainy days, people were coming in. It was like people made a special effort to come downtown.”

But Suther’s experience with the public was not unique; numerous other downtown businesses also enjoyed visits from North Kitsap residents and revenues that silenced talk of the recession.

Carmen Richards of the Dancing Brush said although the ceramic studio is in its sixth year of operation, December 2001 was its “biggest in history.” The popular artistic site held several music nights during the holidays — all of which sold out.

“We’re open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and we were busy at all hours,” Richards reported with a smile. “We had a great season.”

While Susan Droppert, owner of Liberty Bay Books, agreed that there was some concern about the recession’s effect on the downtown corridor during the holidays, her business also had its busiest season to date.

“Books are still a good value for the money,” she pointed out, adding that there was a huge demand for Poulsbo Capt. Ed Shields’ “Salt of the Sea: The Pacific Coast Cod Fishery and the Last Days of Sail.”

“We wrapped so many presents that we ran out of wrapping paper — that’s never happened in the six years I’ve owned it,” Droppert said.

But, she added, Liberty Bay Books’ successful Christmas simply mirrored those of other downtown businesses.

“Most people I talked to had a good year and most customers I talked to said they had an enjoyable shopping experience,” Droppert remarked.

Theresa Schultz, owner of Rocambole Garlic Shop, agreed.

“For us, December was excellent,” Poulsbo’s “Guru of Garlic” said of her third Christmas season on Front Street. “The number of visitors was up and the amount that each customer bought was also way up.”

Schultz said another early present came in the form of a new business website (garlicgal.com), which she started in October.

“We’ve been shipping quite a few orders back east, that’s been cool,” she explained. But even though the Internet side of her business has been “trickling in,” Schultz said the store was thriving throughout the holidays.

Wade Olsen, owner of the Front Street Gallery, wasn’t even certain his three-year-old store would make it through the fall.

“October was bad, bad, bad… I was a little nervous,” Olsen said, shaking his head. November sales were up a bit but December was still a question mark. “But I knew that after October it couldn’t get any worse.”

Then, things took off.

“It really surprised me,” said “This was our third December, but it was our best yet.”

Fred Siegenthaler’s Rubber Soul had just the opposite experience in October but continued the downtown trend of high sales throughout the remainder of 2001.

“Our busy month down here is actually October,” Siegenthaler explained, noting that most customers at his stamp business visit the store during that month to create holiday greeting cards. “But even our October was better than last October and December was really good, too.”