Luminaria to return on Christmas Eve
2014 Christmas Eve Luminaria on Main Street. Photo courtesy of Karl Racenis.
submitted by Barry Allen
Each year since 1978 the community has turned into a village of lights as the residents of Manchester light their luminaria at sunset on Christmas Eve.
The annual luminaria celebration will return this year with the Manchester Lions Club organizing the holiday tradition since taking over the project from the Manchester Area Historical Society more than a decade ago.
The Christmas Eve luminaria will take place at dusk on Saturday night, December 24, during which time the residents of Manchester will place their luminaria along their walkways as a symbol of holiday peace.
The celebration has been hosted by numerous organizations over the past 45 years, most recently by the Manchester Area Historical Society under the direction of Carl Curtis out of the Blacksmith Shop, until it was passed to the Manchester Lions Club in 2008. The luminaria is a beautiful presentation along the streets of Manchester that fits nicely with the Lions’ mission of prevention of blindness and preservation of sight. What better way to demonstrate the gift of sight?
This year the Lions will be selling the kits with drive-through service from the garage of the Manchester Area Historical Society building, the Kingsley-Jenter House, on the corner of Main Street and M-52. Luminaria kits consist of a 15-hour votive candle that sits in a cup of sand in a white bag. A set of ten candles, sand, and bags costs only $5; the price has remained the same for more than ten years. Most homes can use the 10-set kit.
“The luminaria project is a public service to the community, and we’ve kept the price at $5 so everyone can participate,” said a Lions rep, “but due to rising costs, last year’s expenses were only offset by the extra donations provided by you. As prices have continued to go up, this year we have gotten a generous donation from the Manchester Masonic Lodge #148 to offset those costs.”
Sales will begin the week before Christmas on Thursday, December 21, from noon to 6pm, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and finally on Christmas Eve from 10am to 4pm.
In 2008, when the Lions took over the project, luminaria sales were at an all-time low — down from almost 5,000 to less than half, partly due to waning interest and also from inclement weather on Christmas Eve. By rejuvenating the program the Lions Club is trying to get more families to participate, so they have kept the cost at its lowest level.
Many of the legacy traditions of Manchester — the Chicken Broil, the Community Fair, and the luminaria — are in danger without the support of the residents. You have to ask what you would do without them, and realize it’s a possibility they could be gone. Support these longtime traditions to have them here for our children to enjoy for the future.
The Manchester Lions Club sincerely thanks Manchester Aggregate (sand), the Manchester Area Historical Society, the City of Manchester and the downtown merchants, the Manchester Masonic Lodge #148, and individual donors for making this event possible.
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