Christmas in the Village and Community Garage Sale are happening!
Pat Vailliencourt and Santa in a Christmas in the Village parade.
by Sara Swanson
The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) held a special meeting on Wednesday evening as a follow-up to one held in the beginning of May specifically to address the community events in need of volunteers and how to organize them if they are to continue. The good news is that Christmas in the Village and the Community-wide Garage Sale are both happening this year!
After seven months of the real possibility that Christmas in the Village wouldn’t occur, a group made up mostly of downtown merchants volunteered Wednesday night. Because no one had volunteered to organize Christmas in the Village in the intervening month since the last meeting, the volunteers who were present in the audience offered to come together to organize the parade and make sure this long-standing community event continues. The volunteers have not yet had their first organizational meeting; however, they have set the date for Christmas in the Village to occur on the first Saturday in December. If you are interested in volunteering to help or want to organize an event during Christmas in the Village, you can contact Sue LaRocque at riverraisinantiques@gmail.com.
Pat Vailliencourt, who led the meeting on behalf of the DDA, announced that the Community Garage Sale is happening and is scheduled for the last weekend in July.
The third community event at risk of not happening that was labeled a priority at the last meeting was the Gazebo Concerts. Kathy Dimond of the Manchester District Library has stepped forward to try to organize gazebo concerts but would like to partner with someone who has connections in the music industry and can help her book bands. As of now, no concerts are scheduled for this summer.
These events are of course not the only former community events that are no longer happening, these are just events that have been happening up until this year. There are many former community events that could be resurrected if a volunteer would want to organize them. Run Manchester, the Street Festival, Summer Fest, October Fest, and Crazy Cash are just a few. If you as an individual or your organization would be willing to step forward to help with Christmas in the Village, the Community Garage Sale, or Gazebo Concerts or to revive one of these other former events, contact Pat Vailliencourt at pvailliencourt@comcast.net.
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