Decorating the Village
We occasionally add some other seasonal decorations throughout the year.
Please check back here or visit our social media pages for updates. If you have a skill — woodworking, painting, bow-making, or something we haven't thought of yet — and would enjoy using it to help decorate the Village, please contact us. |
Hi! I'm Emma DoudI have lived in Kenmore for 6 years and joined the Village Improvement Society as a way to get involved, meet new people, and give back to the community that I am proud to call home. I have always loved design, decorating, and making things, and I love getting to use my creative side to decorate and beautify the village and bring joy to residents and visitors alike.
We are always in need of people who are willing to help with the seasonal decorating we do, so please consider yourself welcome to join in! You can help plan the decorations and/or help to put them up and take them down. Here are the dates we'll be decorating in 2026. We'll always meet at the gazebo across from the village green and 1 Delaware Road.
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What we do, season by season
The Public Properties Committee decorates Kenmore throughout the year, marking the seasons and bringing visual life to the village's public spaces. KVIS creates and purchases all the decorations, and the Committee works from a rolling five-year plan that continues to expand and refine the look of our business streets.
Decorating days usually take several hours. When we finish, we pause to take it in together - which is honestly one of the best parts.
Winter
Our decorating year begins in winter with one of our simplest designs. We focus on the gazebo area, hanging icicle lights, snowflakes, snow people, and sparkling ribbons to make it a source of light during the darker months.
Memorial Day to Independence Day
Each year, we place six high-quality red, white, and blue fan buntings on the Delaware Avenue Gazebo, along with ribbon, wreaths, flags, and additional bunting throughout the Village. The intent is to visually honor the country and make Kenmore look its best for the Memorial Day Parade. A big thank-you to Colvin Cleaners for annually cleaning and pressing the fan buntings - a generous and ongoing contribution.
Autumn
Toward the end of September, we gather to decorate with corn stalks, leaves, wreaths, and scarecrows. The scale varies year to year - some years we've used more than 100 bundles of corn stalks across the Village. We don't use real pumpkins, but we're always on the lookout for the next great addition to the displays.
Christmas and the Holidays
We complete our holiday decorating in time for the arrival of Santa at the Village Green and the lighting of the Christmas/holiday tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We decorate the lampposts at the Village Green and gazebo with the large candy canes hand-made by KVIS members Vince Paluch and Michael Foster. Wreaths, greenery, and ribbon go up along every business street. Our hands end the day cold, but our spirits are warm - and when Santa arrives, we hope he's pleased with how the Village looks.
Decorating days usually take several hours. When we finish, we pause to take it in together - which is honestly one of the best parts.
Winter
Our decorating year begins in winter with one of our simplest designs. We focus on the gazebo area, hanging icicle lights, snowflakes, snow people, and sparkling ribbons to make it a source of light during the darker months.
Memorial Day to Independence Day
Each year, we place six high-quality red, white, and blue fan buntings on the Delaware Avenue Gazebo, along with ribbon, wreaths, flags, and additional bunting throughout the Village. The intent is to visually honor the country and make Kenmore look its best for the Memorial Day Parade. A big thank-you to Colvin Cleaners for annually cleaning and pressing the fan buntings - a generous and ongoing contribution.
Autumn
Toward the end of September, we gather to decorate with corn stalks, leaves, wreaths, and scarecrows. The scale varies year to year - some years we've used more than 100 bundles of corn stalks across the Village. We don't use real pumpkins, but we're always on the lookout for the next great addition to the displays.
Christmas and the Holidays
We complete our holiday decorating in time for the arrival of Santa at the Village Green and the lighting of the Christmas/holiday tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We decorate the lampposts at the Village Green and gazebo with the large candy canes hand-made by KVIS members Vince Paluch and Michael Foster. Wreaths, greenery, and ribbon go up along every business street. Our hands end the day cold, but our spirits are warm - and when Santa arrives, we hope he's pleased with how the Village looks.
decorating contests for residents & businesses
From time to time, KVIS holds seasonal decorating contests to encourage residents and businesses to take part in the fun of dressing up their outside spaces. In the past we've run Autumn and Patriotic contests, with multiple categories and several winners each time - and we've noticed something worth mentioning: the quality and quantity of seasonal decorating in Kenmore has visibly grown over the years these contests have run. More homes decorated, more care taken, more of the Village glowing through the seasons.
Even when a contest isn't under way, we encourage every resident to consider decorating outdoors as an act of small civic generosity. Your decorations are a visual treat that you give your community - a little way of saying I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad you are too. Decorating with care is also a way of paying attention to the passing seasons, of marking time thoughtfully, maybe even slowing it down
a bit.
Thank you to everyone who helps make Kenmore beautiful, contest or no contest.
Even when a contest isn't under way, we encourage every resident to consider decorating outdoors as an act of small civic generosity. Your decorations are a visual treat that you give your community - a little way of saying I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad you are too. Decorating with care is also a way of paying attention to the passing seasons, of marking time thoughtfully, maybe even slowing it down
a bit.
Thank you to everyone who helps make Kenmore beautiful, contest or no contest.
Public Properties Committee Decorating on TV
The Committee was thrilled when Paula's Donuts used the decorated gazebo as the setting for their Halloween commercial.
The Committee was thrilled when Paula's Donuts used the decorated gazebo as the setting for their Halloween commercial.