Lights, Tractors, Action!
Lights, Tractors, Action!
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
16 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine. com