Visit Denver's holiday window may be back -- unlike the Ski Train

John Hickenlooper.

In December 2008, (very) outgoing Denver mayorJohn Hickenlooper was on the set of Good Morning America, wearing a holiday sweater his sister had knitted and showing off Denver's holiday window, which made its debut on Times Square and was then supposed to return to this city for an annual showing. Hick still has the sweater, but where's the window?

"On hiatus," says Rich Grant, spokesman for Visit Denver, the city's convention and visitors bureau. Visit Denver organized the window and its New York City appearance, which GMA showed to the accompaniment of John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High."

When it was pitching the $50,000 display to potential sponsors, the bureau had promised that it would make an annual appearance in Denver for the next five or six years. And in 2009, it did, gracing an empty storefront window at the Denver Pavilions. But this year? Although downtown still has plenty of empty storefronts, the window display is in storage.

But then, one of the sponsors that got prominent placement in the display has disappeared altogether: The Ski Train made its last run to Winter Park in 2009.

More from the Calhoun: Wake-Up Call archive: "Denver Nativity Scene: Jesus, Mary and Joseph will have short stay at City and County Building."