LEWISTON — The same-old holiday decorations finally got to the staff of Montello Manor.

Hallways and lobbies, tables and doors, windows and dining rooms have always been decorated at Christmastime at the nursing home. But the halls look much more festive this holiday season, thanks to the brainstorming of the manor’s department heads. 

“We brought it up a couple of notches,” Marc Lavalliere, director of environmental services, said. 

Staff decided to divide the building into eight sections, with each department adopting a section to decorate how they wished. 

They called the activity “Deck the Halls.”

“Staff purchased and made everything,” Lavalliere said. Cardboard boxes from the stock room were painted to look like a fireplace. Pictures of residents were glued to ornaments and a cardboard Grinch with Betty Lou Who greet people at the door. Even electrical boxes were covered with decorations.

“The staff went nuts with it,” said Lavalliere, a confessed “Christmas junkie.”

Residents and their families get to vote on which area of the building they like best. Voting ends Friday and the winning department will be announced Monday. 

Rumford native Shirley Dumoulin has lived at Montello for just under a year. She voted for the North Hall where she has her room. “It’s very pretty,” she said.  

“We had a lot of fun and the residents love it,” Executive Director Kathy Attwood, who helped decorate the main lobby, said. 

Lavalliere said the activity has grown into a bit of a competition among departments. “People are already talking about ideas for next year,” he said. “I think we started a new tradition.”