JOHN COFFELTEditor

Manchester’s annual Downtown Stroll, Friday, Dec. 15 was a great success with additional carriage rides, storefront décor contests and a lot of local shopping.

“It’s going great,” Manchester Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katy Riddle said. “I feel like there was more interest this year than in years’ past.”

“We had so many people contacting us instead of us contacting them, which is always a sign of a great event.”

“We have carriage rides, photos with Santa, food trucks and local shopping – it doesn’t get any better than this,” Riddle said.

This was bakehouse’s first time participating in the event.

“We just opened in May so it’s new to us,” owner Brianne Melcher said.

“I love (small town Christmas),” she said. “I love the atmosphere that it creates, the old buildings, the lights, how friendly people are when walking down the street. I like it all.”

“It’s our first small town Christmas,” Melcher said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.