Christmas in the Village contest winners

The home of Rebecca Daugherty was awarded “Most Manchester Spirit” in the residential home decorating contest.

One of the exciting parts of Manchester’s Christmas in the Village celebration is finding out “who won?” in all the contests–especially lighting and parade decorating and this year, the addition of a cookie contest and an Ugly Sweater contest!

This year’s winners for residential Outdoor Decorating (Sponsored by Manchester True Value Hardware), are Rebecca Daugherty, 728 Glen Oak, “Most Manchester Spirit,” and 413 Territorial, home of Deborah Alber and Rick Bentley, for “Most Christmas Spirit.”

The home of Deborah Alber and Rick Bentley was awarded for “Most Christmas Spirit.”

In the category of Business Decorating (Sponsored by the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce), the winner was Sutton Insurance Agency for the second straight year.

Parade Float winners (Sponsored by R.D. Kleinschmidt, Sutton Agency, Alber Excavating, and the Lions Club): Manchester Boy Scouts earned the prize for “Most Manchester Spirit,” the MHS Leo Club won for the “Best 12 Days of Christmas” theme, and “Most Lights” award went to the Manchester Co-op Preschool.

Everyone was a winner in the Festival of Trees contest! There were 1,142 total items collected for the Community Resource Center food pantry. The festive children’s tree sponsored and decorated by Jennifer’s Daycare collected 330 items, closely followed by the Grinch-themed Manchester Eye Care Center tree, which received honorable mention for collecting 304 non-perishable items.

Sutton Insurance Agency won the prize for the best decorated storefront.

The MHS Leos Club won a prize for its float honoring the theme of “Twelve Days of Christmas”. Parade sponsors included Sutton Insurance Agency, R.D. Kleinschmidt, Manchester Lions Club, and Alber Excavating.

The Boy Scouts’ float won for “Most Manchester Spirit.”

The tree sponsored and decorated by Jennifer’s Daycare won the Festival of Trees with 330 non-perishable items collected.

Manchester Eye Care Center’s tree won a close second in the Festival of Trees, collecting 304 items for the CRC.

Over The Edge sponsored the Ugly Sweater contest. Co-winners were Michelle Gould and Jamie Laakko.

The Cookie Contest (Sponsored by Donnellon Insurance), was won by the Eklics family for their Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie recipe.

And this year’s Ugly Sweater Contest (Sponsored by Over the Edge), ended in a a tie between Michelle Gould and Jamie Laakko (aka The Facepaint Faerie).

Congratulations to all the entrants and the winners.

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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.