Luminaria will light the way again this Christmas
Downtown Manchester is lined with luminaria each Christmas Eve, thanks to a group of volunteers. The remainder of the community is lit up as well by the efforts of many more residents who place and light luminary bags in front of their homes and the village parks. This project is sponsored by the Manchester Lions Club and supported by the entire community.
by Marsha Chartrand
Who says a person with a vision can’t create something huge?
Just ask Karen Hinkley how the luminaria tradition got started in Manchester back in 1977.
“We moved to our home on Ann Arbor Hill in Manchester in 1976,“ Hinkley recalled a few years ago. “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.“
People in Mexico and the southwest US (areas originally known as “New Spain“) have lit luminaria on Christmas Eve to light the way for the Christ Child for hundreds of years. The tradition migrated farther into the southwestern United States more recently. Hinkley recalled seeing these displays and wanted to make it happen in her newly adopted hometown. Along with her husband and a handful of friends, she organized the display at a few dozen homes in the village limits along Ann Arbor Hill that soon spread to the entire village — and some of the outskirts — of Manchester.
“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!“
For the next several years Hinkley asked anyone and everyone she knew how they might help. Members of the newly formed Manchester Art Guild stepped up to the plate, calling one person per street and asking them to call their neighbors and remind them prior to Christmas Eve.
“We put them together in our basement, digging the sand at the Road Commission yard,“ she explained. “By the sixth year I was pregnant with our oldest daughter and the project had grown so much, I decided to find a group to take it over.“
So it was in 1982 that the Historical Society started managing the luminaria, and 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 a few years, primarily due to inclement weather on a few successive Christmas Eves, participation was spotty and it seemed the tradition could fade away. The Lions Club worked hard to revive participation over the past 14 years and to get the word out for the benefit of newcomers to the community. For that reason, even though with rising costs they are now officially operating at a loss, they continue to offer the kits of 10 bags, candles, and sand for the low price of just $5. Additional donations are appreciated, naturally, but the Lions will continue to subsidize the cost because they — like Hinkley — believe in this tradition and want to see it go on well into the future.
If you would like to purchase a kit to participate, you can at the Kingsley-Jenter (KJ) House located at 302 E Main on Wed., December 21, from noon to 4pm; Thurs. and Fri., Dec. 22–23, from noon to 6pm; and Sat., Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve), from 10am to 4pm.
The purpose of the luminaria for the past 45 years has always remained the same: “to light the way for the Christ Child” and bring the community together in peace and harmony. Do your part by lighting your candles by 6pm on Christmas Eve and enjoy the soft glow of light that quietly emanates throughout the Manchester community.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login