Holiday home tour set for Saturday, Dec. 9

Six Santa Fe houses splendidly decorated for the holidays are featured on the 2nd Annual Holiday Home Tour sponsored by the Santa FeWoman’s Club and Library Association.

The tour, a fundraiser for theWoman’s Club Scholarship Fund for local college women, is held on Saturday, Dec. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Through Dec. 8, tickets are $20 fromWoman’s Club members, or leave your contact information at 505-9839455. On tour day, Dec. 9, tickets may be purchased for $25 at the Clubhouse, 1616 Old Pecos Trail, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Carpooling is suggested; cars may be left in the parking lot at the Clubhouse. Maps are provided with tickets; docents greet you at each home. Dogs are not allowed on the tour.

The Santa FeWoman’s Club & Library Association, now celebrating its 125th anniversary, evolved from the Benevolent Association andWoman’s Board of Trade with the purpose of making civic improve- ments and establishing a library. The Public Library and Reading Room opened with 400 books in January 1896 in the “Old Barracks” building at the northwest corner of the Plaza. In 1906-07, AntonioWindsor built theWomen’s Board of Trade Library on aWashington Avenue parcel of land donated by the Territorial Legislature. By 1915 the library holdings numbered 3,500 books.

In 1931, theWomen’s Board of Trade merged with the Santa FeWomen’s Club, which was organized in 1912. The mem- bers’ mission was to promote civic, educational, philanthropic, and library work and to maintain the historic Fairview Cemetery — that last responsibility ended with the club’s 1978 donation of the cemetery to Santa Fe County. Then, in 1962, the City of Santa Fe purchased the library.

TheWoman’s Club is a Santa Fe Living Treasure. All women are welcome to join. See www.santafewomansclub.org for more information. — PaulWeideman