Lights, Tractors, Action!

STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LANA SHEVORSKI PHOTOGRAPHY

How the Manchester Tractor Parade became a beloved Holiday tradition 

Every Holiday season, the Manchester Tractor Parade demonstrates how tradition, creativity, and collaboration can unite a whole town. What began as a modest event more than a decade ago has become one of the defining celebrations of Manchester’s Holiday calendar. It now brings together local institutions, businesses, schools, nonprofits, and families in a shared display of spirit and jovial ingenuity. The tractors may shine the brightest, but what illuminates the night most vividly is the heartfelt sense of town pride and community togetherness. As we look towards this year’s annual tractor parade on Saturday, December 6 at 5:30 PM with festive anticipation, we spoke to several organizers and past participants. In doing so, we gained insight into the inner workings of the parade, the traditions and stories that give it character, and the ways in which it allows visitors and locals alike to revel in the Holiday cheer.

Origins and Intent 

The Manchester Tractor Parade began in December 2010. It was originally organized by Don Dorr of Dorr Oil, and it was supported by the now-shuttered Manchester-in-the-Mountains Chamber of Commerce. At the time, the Chamber’s Executive Director, Berta Maginniss, worked alongside Dorr to launch the inaugural event. “The first Holiday tractor parade that Manchester put on happened in 2010,” recalls John Burnham, Executive Director of the Manchester Business Association (MBA). “Don and Berta wanted to create a unique event for Manchester, and that’s how the parade came to life.” 

The event proved durable from its earliest years. Even in 2020, during the pandemic, the tractor parade survived, because it was outdoors and could be staged safely. The parade also survived a major organizational transition. When the Manchester-in-the-Mountains Chamber dissolved, the question of continuity arose. Mike Baker, Branch Manager of Dead River Company, recalls being the one to step forward. “We [Dead River Company] bought Dorr Oil in 2016. After that, I called the town office and asked, ‘What’s going on with the tractor parade?’ They said, ‘We’re not going to do it anymore. Nobody wants to do it.’ I asked, ‘What do you need?’ and they told me, ‘Attendees.’ So, I went knocking on doors up and down Main Street and all over town. Before long, we had a parade again.” 

Growth, Governance, and Logistics 

Over the past fifteen years, the parade has grown in size, visibility, and significance. 

“Back in 2020, we probably had about 12 to 13 participants,” says Burnham. “This past year, we had 34, and this year, we are hoping to get to 35 or 40.” That growth has required evolving routes and staging practices. Burnham notes that the parade originally traveled a longer path through town, even stopping at the Equinox Village retirement community for carols. Over time, the route was shortened for safety and manageability. Still, as participation grew, adjustments were once again necessary. “This coming year, it will be a new route,” Burnham explains. “It will still launch from its original point at MEMS, but instead of going out School Street, the parade will come down Memorial Avenue to Main Street, take a left onto Center Hill Road, head down to Depot Street, and then come up Main Street back to MEMS. This ensures the tractors will never overlap, which was an issue in recent years.” 

Behind the scenes, the logistics are complex. “We create a lineup from one to thirty or forty, depending on how many tractors we have,” Burnham says. “Everyone has their spot, and we create a map so they know exactly where to bring their tractor or float. We lay out cones, number stakes, and use every inch of the MEMS parking lots to accommodate the growth.” Unexpected challenges arise each year, but they often reveal the camaraderie that defines the event. “Some people bring their tractors fully decorated,” Burnham explains. “Others build them out on site. Sometimes a generator won’t work, and then another team will step in and say, ‘I’ll run and get mine.’ It’s kind of like the British baking show—if somebody’s done, they’re helping their competitor.” While the setup can be unpredictable, one thing is constant: punctuality. Burnham stresses the importance of timing: “We’re very punctual. When it’s 5:30, we’ve got to start. As a spectator, you don’t want to be sitting there for another half hour waiting for a tractor parade to come by when you were told 5:30 was the start.” 

According to Baker, the logistics have always included personal involvement: “I’ve spent whole Saturdays helping Special Olympics with their float,” he says. “I’ll buy lights or capes or whatever they need. I’m there with them all day long getting set up.” For the Northshire Special Olympics, the parade is both a celebration and an opportunity to be part of the wider community. “We want to get our athletes involved in the community, not just playing sports,” says Don Benasich, a coordinator for Vermont Special Olympics. “The parade is a great way to spread awareness of Special Olympics and our athletes, and it gives them a chance to spend time at a community event.” The organization has been participating for nearly a decade, often with support from local partners. Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, has provided a tractor and float space in recent years, with athletes themselves choosing each year’s theme. “Last year our theme was the farm at Hildene, and the farm manager helped us set it all up,” Benasich recalls. The collaboration, combined with steady support from Mike Baker and Dead River Company, has made the group a centerpiece of the parade. “The athletes love it,” he adds. “They’re in front of the whole community, and it raises awareness while giving back.”

For The Wilburton resort, the Tractor Parade has become more than just a Holiday event—it is an expression of their enduring family legacy, community spirit, and the inn’s distinctive holiday traditions. Melissa Levis, Director of Marketing and Group Sales at The Wilburton, is a second-generation innkeeper and owner who is deeply immersed in the Manchester community. 

Melissa explains that the annual Wilburton float was actually started by a group of devoted, longtime guests. 

“The Wilburton is the ‘Happy Place’ for these three unbelievable guests who have been coming here for their ‘Girls Weekend Getaways’ every summer and winter for over twenty years! One night - years ago - my mother left out the Christmas tree decorations, and the girls surprised her and decorated the tree. They thought they would get in trouble, but instead my mother loved it. It became an annual tradition. Not only do the girls decorate the tree, they decorate themselves in matching holiday outfits for three days wearing matching shoes, dresses, earrings, pocketbooks, and hats! From there, they began decorating the Wilburton’s floats for the tractor parade.”

Levis explains that these women, who affectionately call themselves “Georgette’s Girls” in honor of Levis’ late mother, innkeeper Georgette Wasserstein Levis, have embraced the parade with extraordinary dedication. “They plan their floats a year ahead. They think about the theme, they design every detail, and they love tossing out candy to the spectators. It’s really an act of true love, and it’s their way of honoring my mother. They want people to know how special The Wilburton is. They’ve won best float and prizes for many years in a row.”

Pamela Ogden, one of the original “Georgette’s Girls,” recalls how the tradition took shape. “It started with us decorating the Christmas tree as a surprise, and when Georgette loved it, we just kept going. The parade was always my favorite event, and I wanted us girls to be in it. At first, we didn’t even know we could participate—we thought it was just for Vermonters. Our very first float was a candy cane float. My husband Malcolm helped us build it on a little trailer attached to a four-wheeler, and we ended up winning. We never imagined that would happen—we just did it for fun.”

What began as a small experiment quickly became a year-round passion. “As soon as one parade is over, we start planning the next one,” Ogden explains. “We buy everything on sale after the holidays and store it in my garage. We spend months working on the costumes and decorations, building everything ourselves. The best part is being in the garage together, the three of us girls and my husband, bickering and brainstorming until it comes together. It’s amazing to see what we can create as a small group.” For Ogden, the parade is about more than competition. “The joy is seeing the kids’ faces light up when we throw candy, and knowing the community comes out in the cold just to watch all of the floats go by. Even the adults are excited—it feels like the whole town is celebrating together.”

The tradition also brings in multiple generations of the Levis family. 

Levis elaborates: “They always include my sister, Tajlei and my father, Albert, on the float, which is very special to us. Our guests become like family.” The floats are also woven into The Wilburton’s larger seasonal programming, particularly the annual “Canine Christmas Slumber Paw-ty,” a weekend of holiday fun for guests and their dogs, hosted by The Wilburton’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Jetson, the “Canine Concierge.” Guests and their dogs come from all over America and Canada for this magical weekend. In fact, The Wilburton’s doggie slumber ‘pawties’ are so famous that they were featured on Animal Planet. “The tractor parade is the icing on the cake for us and our guests,” says Levis. “The Wilburton is like a Hallmark movie that weekend, and the parade is a big part of that magic.”

Participation and Traditions

The parade reflects the diversity of the community, drawing contributions from schools, nonprofits, families, and businesses. Burnham notes the “repeat participants” who help define the event year after year: The Wilburton, Hildene: The Lincoln Family Home, Manchester Elementary & Middle School (MEMS), Maple Street School, Burr & Burton Academy, Long Trail School, Sunderland Elementary School, and Special Olympics Northshire, among many others. Each brings its own character to the parade. 

“The lead person of the parade for the past five years has been Linda Benway,” Burnham says. “She always does a themed look and feel for her tractor and outfit, and she follows right behind the police car as the first tractor in the lineup.”

Memorable floats and decorations abound. Burnham describes the variety with enthusiasm: “One of my favorites is when they have live music, with guitars and drums and speakers playing Christmas songs. I also love unique themes. Last year, the Green Mountain Rock Climbing group created a rock-climbing wall with people actually climbing it as the parade went by. That was very creative. I loved the Minions theme too—I’m a big fan of the Minions movies. And there was a float where a business put a beautiful red oven in the bucket of a tractor with a giant bow. It was such a clever way to showcase their work.”

School groups often draw inspiration from classic holiday imagery. “The schools are great,” Burnham says. “They’ve done Charlie Brown themes, reindeer, and all sorts of creative designs.”

The “Georgette’s Girls” stand proudly in front of one of the Wilburton’s celebrated tractor parade floats

For entrants, the parade is both celebration and exposure. “It really gets their name out,” Mike Baker explains. “Everybody remembers Jim & Liam’s Cutting Edge because they had such a gorgeous float, or Albert Levis at the Wilburton and his Museum of the Creative Process. Because of their floats, people who come up to Manchester from out of town for the parade get to know where Wilburton is and who Jim & Liam are. It’s a great advertising piece for all of the organizations and businesses.”

Community Impact

The tractor parade is as much about those along the sidewalks as those on the floats. “By far, my favorite part of the parade is just watching how the community comes together to embrace it,” says Burnham. “Seeing how many people are lined up on the streets to watch and cheer is what it’s all about. And it’s not just local residents—it’s visitors too. Some people have told me they travel specifically to Manchester for the parade. I’ve gotten emails from people saying they plan their visit around it.”

Baker echoes that sentiment. “It gives people the small-town feel—the sense of community,” he reflects. “I’ve talked to folks who come up to their ski homes just so they can be here for the parade. Last year was our biggest one yet. The pizza place was booming all night long, and other shops were packed. People love being part of it.” The sense of shared purpose is also evident in the collaboration among participants. “Even though there are categories and winners, everybody helps each other out,” Burnham says. “That spirit of cooperation is part of what makes the parade special.”

Manchester Merriment

The tractor parade is a cornerstone of Manchester Merriment, a series of holiday events coordinated by the Manchester Business Association and community partners. Burnham identifies the anchor events: the town Tree Lighting the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Shires Holiday Inn Tours (which spans two weekends in December), and the Santa Express train ride, which is perfect for families in search of a fun Holiday outing. These events, along with concerts, craft fairs, and family gatherings, create a season-long atmosphere of holiday festivity. The parade, however, is distinct in its ability to showcase Manchester’s identity. “We are a tourist destination, but we are also a wonderfully unique community,” Burnham says. “The tractor parade brings all of that together.”