On March 10, 2026, Hooksett voters rejected the $9.54 million Route 3A TIF bond and turned down the proposed operating budget. On the same ballot they approved $12,900 to light the historic village from December through March. This is the first winter since the town stopped funding the tree lighting in 2023 that the Lilac Walking Bridge, the Town Tree and the buildings around them are covered by a town appropriation. That money is meant to keep the lights on for about four months, well past the evening Light Up The Village switches them on.
The appropriation came from Petition Article 23. The town's report to the state on what voters approved lists it in the Passed column of a table where several other articles are marked Failed. The vote count isn't printed in that document, and the attached state form is labeled a draft. Still, the $12,900 is part of the $26,241,740 the Town Council packet for March 25 reports as actually appropriated.
What the Money Lights, and for How Long
Before the vote, The Hooksett Bridge described Article 23 as funding "seasonal lighting in Hooksett's village area from December through March." The article named five places:
- The Lilac Walking Bridge
- The Town Tree
- The Historical Society
- Old Town Hall
- Town Hall
Part of the money also supports the Light Up The Village kickoff event. The same piece estimated the tax rate impact at $0.004. For a home assessed at $500,000, it put the cost at about $2 a year. The Bridge piece was written in support of the article, so those figures are its estimate.
The Lilac Bridge has the most practical role on that list. The Bridge article pointed out that lighting it makes walking through the village and crossing the river after dark easier to see. In December and January it is dark by late afternoon, so four months of lights on a pedestrian bridge matter well beyond the holidays.
How the Lights Lost Their Funding, and Got It Back
The funding is a return to an old practice. The Bridge noted that the town paid for the annual Town Tree lighting every year before 2023. After that, the cost moved to volunteers.
Light Up The Village already existed by then. Town records show an event on December 9, 2022, with donations going through the Hooksett Heritage Commission. Once the town stopped paying, the volunteers covered everything. By 2025 a resident committee ran the event, led by co-chairs Mary Darby and Tony LaCasse. The Hooksett Bridge reported that the committee's nonprofit partner, Community Connections, made donations tax-deductible.
According to the Bridge, Light Up The Village costs about $20,000 a year to put on. Article 23 covers less than two-thirds of that. The Bridge said a yes vote would "stabilize a portion of the funding" so volunteers could spend less time filling budget gaps.
The committee still has to raise the rest, and that fundraising has become part of the town calendar. This summer it ran Rev Up The Village, a raffle of 300 tickets at $100 each for a 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster. The live drawing was held July 18, 2026 at Manchester Harley-Davidson. In December, the Festival of Trees at the Town Hall Gym is one of the committee's largest fundraisers.
The committee also has a separate, larger goal. The Light Up The Village website is raising $20,000 for a Lighting Fund to light eight village landmarks.
| Covered by the town appropriation | On the committee's Lighting Fund list |
|---|---|
| Lilac Walking Bridge | Congregational Church of Hooksett |
| Town Tree | Holy Rosary Catholic Church & Parsonage |
| Historical Society | Hooksett Town Hall |
| Old Town Hall | Hooksett Village Fire Department |
| Town Hall | American Legion |
| NH State Grange | |
| The Robie Store | |
| Hooksett Village Water Precinct |
Only Town Hall is on both lists. The town money pays for lights on town-owned property: the bridge, the tree and the municipal buildings. Lighting the churches, the Grange, the Legion and Robie's still depends on donations. No published source yet says which of those eight buildings have permanent lights.
December 5: The Confirmed Part
The fifth annual Light Up The Village is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 3 to 7 p.m. The organizers' site lists Photos with Santa and Storytime. The organizers haven't posted a full 2026 timetable or vendor list, and the only locations published so far appear in requests still waiting on Town Council approval.
December 12: The Part Still Pending
The Town Council's October 14 agenda adds new detail. Councilor LaCasse has asked the council to approve several uses of town property for the event.
- A permission letter for fire pits at 16 Main Street.
- Use of the Arah W. Prescott Library for Children's Storytime and Photos with Santa on Saturday, December 5 and Saturday, December 12.
- Use of town parking lots at 101 Merrimack Street, including the Courthouse, Dog Park and Riverwalk Trailhead lots, plus Alfred J. Lambert Riverside Park, the Old Town Hall lot at 16 Main Street and the Town Hall lot at 35 Main Street.
The council agenda calls these requests, and the staff recommendation is to "listen to the requests." Nothing on the list is approved until the council acts. At the September 23 meeting, LaCasse noted that he had requested the agenda item.
Two of the requests fit the March vote. A second Saturday of Storytime and Santa would mean families have more than one evening in the village. With the lights paid for through March, the bridge and tree will be lit on December 12 too. The parking request also covers more ground than the 2025 plan. That plan used Donati Field, the football field, the Town Hall Gym, Hooksett Congregational Church and Holy Rosary Catholic Church. The 2026 request adds the Riverwalk Trailhead and Lambert Riverside Park lots.
What Last Year Looked Like
The 2026 program isn't out yet. The best guide to the event's general shape is last year's plan, which The Hooksett Bridge laid out in November 2025. Times and performers for this year may change.
In 2025, the event ran over a long weekend, from Thursday, December 4 through Saturday, December 6. The Beloin Family Christmas Tree Farm Festival of Trees filled the Town Hall Gymnasium with nearly fifty decorated trees. Visitors could vote on them and buy raffle tickets to win one. On Saturday, the Holiday Craft Fair took up two floors of Hooksett Congregational Church.
The lighting followed a set route. The opening ceremony was held in the church sanctuary with music director Adam Boraskas, the Congregational Church Choir and Pastor Gina Colorio. Citizen of the Year John Danforth led a candle-lighting. The group then walked with candles to Veterans Park at Jacob Square and across the Lilac Bridge, whose lights came on as people reached it. The walk ended near Robie's Country Store and Riverside Street for the 5 p.m. Town Tree and village lighting. The bridge Article 23 now keeps lit through March is the same one that procession crosses.
The rest of the evening spread across the village. Unbound Dance Academy performed on the Town Tree Stage. Author Karen Busch Holman read Bear's Bell at the Arah W. Prescott Library, 16 Main Street, after a walk led by Bear, the holiday mini horse. Bluey visited the NH State Grange Hall, and Santa took photos at the Town Hall Gym. The American Legion set up a "Fire Alley" of fire pits, and Hooksett Kiwanis ran cookie decorating. Don Smith and Olivia Conway played music, and the Hooksett Twirlers performed across from Robie's at 7 p.m. Food was sold at Robie's Country Store and the Legion.
The Bridge article traced the original town tree lighting back to the 1970s. That tradition now has two sources of money behind it again: a town line item for the lights, and volunteers who raise the rest of the event's $20,000 a year.
Dates to Know
- October 14, 2026: The Town Council takes up the fire pit, library and parking requests.
- Saturday, December 5, 2026, 3 to 7 p.m.: The fifth annual Light Up The Village.
- Saturday, December 12, 2026: A second date for Storytime and Photos with Santa, if the council approves it.
- December through March: The town-funded lights stay on at the Lilac Walking Bridge, Town Tree, Historical Society, Old Town Hall and Town Hall.
Hooksett is home for Michelle Gannon, and the village around Robie's Country Store is one of the places she knows best. If you have questions about Hooksett Village or what's changing around Main Street this winter, contact Michelle Gannon to discuss your next move.