House tour highlights Christmas
Every Nov. 1 Christmas comes out at the Corcoran house.
And this year was no exception, other than the fact complete strangers had a chance to see what the Port Colborne couple - Sylvia and Sean - had done to decorate inside their Killaly Street East home.
The two were part of St. James- St. Brendan Anglican Church’s 10th annual Christmas House Tour, one of five homes open to the public Saturday.
“The reason we did this is that my sister works at a high school and one of the ladies she works with asked if she knew anyone who decorated their home. My sister said, ‘ Actually, I do’,” said Sylvia.
She said her sister told her about the tour.
“Sean and I thought it was a great idea … it’s for a good cause. We thought it would be 20 or 30 people, and we found out it was a lot more than that,” Sylvia said.
An hour- and- a- half into the tour, she said at least 150 people had been through the home. There were a number of Santa Claus statues and a dancing Santa along one wall of the home. A fireplace was decorated with stockings and there was a complete Christmas village as well.
“I used to help my aunt decorate her house, she was just Christmas crazy. She kind of got me into it,” said Sylvia.
“It’s like this every year,” said Sean, as a half dozen people moved through his home. “We recycle some pieces and add a few new pieces.”
In addition to the Corcoran’s home, homes were open on Catharine Street, Fielden Avenue, Oakridge Crescent and Pinecrest Road.
House tour organizer Donna Abbott said people volunteered to open their homes for the tour.
Unlike other tours which use decorators to set up a home, Abbott said homeowners decorated their own homes.
“It seems to work. We thought about using decorators once before, but people wanted to see what residents did … something they could do in their own home.”
Tickets for the tour were $ 20, and a silent auction, raffle, and cookie sale were held at the Guild Hall. All of the funds raised, said Abbott, were put into the church and various programs it runs.
Programs like Out of the Cold, South Coast Ministries, youth group and a teaching restaurant in the Guild Hall.
“Last year, we raised $ 10,000 and hopefully we’ll raise at least $ 6,000 this year,” she said, adding ticket sales were down a bit this year. There was, however, an increase in sponsorships.