Lighting the way to Christmas

Luminaria on Main Street along Wurster Park.

The Christmas Eve luminaria seems like a timeless tradition in Manchester–but do you know how it really began?

People in Mexico and southwest US (areas originally known as “New Spain”) have lit luminaries on Christmas Eve to light the way for the Christ Child, for hundreds of years. The tradition appears to have migrated to New Mexico and other areas of the southwestern United States more recently, and it was actually 41 years ago that it was brought to Manchester by Karen Hinkley, who, along with a few friends, organized the beautiful display along Ann Arbor Hill that soon spread to the entire village–and some of the outskirts–of Manchester.

“We moved to our home on Ann Arbor Hill in Manchester in 1976,” Hinkley recalls. “In 1977 I thought (the luminaria) would be a great tradition for our village, so that first year I did it mostly by myself, with my husband John’s help on Christmas Eve.”

The first year Hinkley started out “small,” trying to fill each home on Ann Arbor Hill with the lighted bags–still a hefty order, since that included several dozen homes from the village limits to Main Street.

“I knocked on everyone’s door, introduced myself, and explained what I hoped to do, and why,” she recalls. “Seriously, there were many who could not visualize this at all; I’m sure some people thought I was crazy–and a few told me so!!”

It didn’t matter though; because, she said, she knew how beautiful it was going to be.

“I tangled a bit with one woman and I finally begged her, ‘if I pay for it and do it in front of your house, would you let me, so the whole street will be lit?’ She finally agreed!!” (and, Hinkley adds, she loved it afterwards!)

Hinkley believed that if the lights were lit all the way up both sides of Ann Arbor Hill, people would get the picture and it would catch on.

And catch on it did! For the next five years Hinkley asked anyone and everyone she knew how they might be willing to help. Members of the newly-formed Manchester Art Guild stepped up to the plate to help Hinkley, calling on one person per street to call their neighbors and remind them prior to Christmas Eve.

“Then we put them together in our basement, digging the sand in our old trailer at the Road Commission yard,” she explained. “By the sixth year I was pregnant with our oldest daughter and the Luminaria had grown so much, I decided to find a group that might like to take it over.”

So it was in 1982 that the Historical Society started managing the luminaria, and, as they say, the rest is history. In 2008, the Manchester Lions Club took over the distribution process; first at the Blacksmith Shop and now at the Kingsley-Jenter House on Main Street.

For several years, primarily due to inclement weather on a few successive Christmas Eves, participation was spotty and it seemed the tradition was in danger of dying out. The Lions Club has worked hard to revive participation over the past 10 years, and to get the word out for the benefit of newcomers to the community.

This year’s dates and hours will be announced soon. Watch the Mirror and other local sources to get the most up-to-date information about how to get luminaria in front of YOUR home this Christmas Eve!

The purpose, for the past 42 years, has always remained the same: “To light the way for the Christ Child,” and bring the community together in peace and harmony on Christmas Eve.

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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.