CCHS Seniors Nichole Mariezcurrena, left, and Hannah Isbister, helped Dee Dee Ferguson put the final touches on her home. The Christmas Home Tour takes placeSaturday from 3-8 p.m. at five homes across the county and benefits the 2016 Grad Nite Celebration.
This year’s Christmas Home Tour features home large and small, new and old, but all are filled with Christmas cheer. And all proceeds from the home tour will benefit the 2016 Grad Night Celebration event which provides a safe venue and experience for high school seniors on the night of graduation.
The Christmas Home Tour will be held Saturday, Dec. 12 from 3 to 8 p.m. and will take participants to five festive homes in the county. For more than 20 years, homeowners have “decked their halls” for the Christmas Home Tour and opened their homes for people to appreciate the seasonal decorations.
“This is a Fallon tradition,” said Carol Johnson, organizer of this year’s home tour. “Everyone has been so gracious to open up their homes.”
Johnson said her small committee starts working in September to find homeowners willing to decorate almost every room in their house, and then open it up to residents for one evening. She said she just secured the fifth location two weeks ago.
The Christmas Home Tour didn’t happen last year because there weren’t enough participants, Johnson said. Each year the committee seeks to find at least five homes; the most homes they’ve had for the event was eight Johnson recalled.
One “veteran tour” home this year belongs to Dee Dee and Ray Ferguson. Having hosted the Christmas Home Tour six times previously, Dee Dee knows what she’s getting into. Her large ranch-style home features themed rooms with western and country charm. Her home bio states the Fergusons “hope that our home speaks to you the true meaning of Christmas.” That meaning is evident even before entering the home with a tasteful Nativity display on the front porch. This home is not to be missed!
Fallon graduates Carol and Charlie Arciniega have spruced up their home for the holidays and are eager to share it with residents. After being away for 37 years, the 1977 Churchill County High School graduates state their “home is humble but full of love and friendship, awaiting your arrival!”
Another Fallon grad, Alisha Saling Andrews, is participating in the home tour for the first time this year. She states her 1940s home is true to its era with its pink exterior and dental crown moldings. Her eclectic style mixes with antiques in all rooms, which are color-coordinated. Look for the Christmas trees decorated to match each room!
The home of Sue and Norman Frey will again be outlined with white lights this year to achieve the gingerbread house effect. This home, recognizable to residents because of the many events hosted here, was built in 1916 near the highway. The Freys remodeled and relocated the home in the early 1980s to sit in the middle of their large ranch. Look for the old-fashioned saloon to also be draped with country Christmas charm.
The final home on the tour is just two years old and belongs to Maribeth and Wayne Robinson. The decor draws from antiques passed down in the Robinson family. The family’s home also features many items from Eureka, Nevada.
Tickets for the Christmas Home Tour are $20 each, or $15 each for residents aged 65 and over. Tickets can be purchased from Cobblestone Corner, Just Country Friends, Jeff’s Copy Express, Red Zinnia, The Flower Tree and Workman’s Farms. Participants will receive a biography with a brief description of each home, along with a map.
Christy Lattin is a correspondent for the Lahontan Valley News.