For a 13th year, the homes of several area residents will be turned into winter wonderlands for the annual Christmas House Tour organized by the Captain Garnet Brackin IODE Nov. 18 and 19 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Each year, sponsors step up to allow area decorators to bring Christmas alive in the homes of people who agree to open their doors for the tour. Marianne Johnstone of the IODE, who has been involved with the tour since the beginning, said the tour has been selling approximately 600 tickets, with a portion of the proceeds going to an area charitable organization.
This year, Johnstone said the Chatham-Kent Hospice was the organization chosen, and the rest of the funds raised will go to programs the IODE supports, including bursaries for local students.
The seven houses and one church on the tour are all in the core of Chatham, within four blocks of each other, so Johnstone said it is essentially a walking tour.
“There are no repeats of years before. We have never been in any of the houses on this year’s tour before,” Johnstone said. “People have beautiful homes and the decorators try to work with the homeowners with their colours to really showcase the home.”
She said it takes a lot of people to bring the tour together and the IODE appreciates the community support and the sponsors, decorators and home owners who get involved.
Tickets for the event are available by calling 519-354-0803 or 519-351-1406. Tickets can be picked up at several area locations as well, including The Purple Pansy, Ross’ Nurserymen, Syd Kemsley Florist, BioPed Foot Care Centre, Glass House Nursery, Laurie Clark Designs in Chatham and B’s Hive in Thamesville.
This year, the IODE took on a special project for Canada 150, giving $150 to 17 area elementary schools to come up with their own ideas to celebrate. Johnstone said the schools took pictures and reported back on how they used the funds with rooftop pictures, school gardens, dance team uniforms and many other projects.
