Home for Christmas

Coming down Ann Arbor Hill

Luminaries all aglow

Their twinkling candles sparkling

Upon the glistening snow.

I’m coming home for Christmas

Back to the country town I love

Manchester, my home sweet home,

You’re my peaceful dove.

Turning on to Main Street

My hometown looks so small

I’m glad some things never change

Seems like I never left at all.

The Mill, the clock, the drugstore

They’ve all been here awhile

Just looking at these landmarks

Brings to me a smile.

I see our farm in the distance

The barns so Christmas red

The farmhouse is so beautiful

This is my homestead.

The old road still dirt and bumpy

The countryside remains unchanged

Yes, if home is where your heart is,

It always remains the same.

I’m coming home for Christmas

Back to the country town I love

Manchester … my home sweet home,

You’re my peaceful dove.

-by Sandy Krzyzaniak Trolz, 1991

This Christmas poem, written by Sandy Trolz 25 years ago, was originally published in The Manchester Enterprise. Sandy was instrumental in organizing Manchester’s 125th anniversary celebration in 1992. She was the owner of The Eighteenth Century Shoppe in Manchester for many years, and retired from the Pittsfield Police Department in 2013. Sandy passed away in September 2015 and is missed by her family and many friends. 

Photo courtesy of Kim Blumenstein.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.