Holiday Home Tour set for Saturday

If you've driven past a home and wondered what it looked like inside, the annual Holiday Home Tour is your chance to find out.

Ringing in its 27th year, the tour will showcase six homes, including a 160-acre cattle farm and a 150-year-old house. Presented by the Lutheran Family and Children's Services Foundation, the tour will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Once tickets are purchased, attendees are given a map and can go at their own pace during tour hours.

Homes along the tour include 255 Cedar Ridge (owned by Eric and Kelly Morton), 2191 Aberdine Circle (Pam Morgan), 120 Shady Path (Jim and Michaele Riley), 180 Cedar Ridge Lane (Chuck and Laura McGinty), 1722 Crestwood Drive (Rick Werner) and 2140 Silver Campine Lane (Chris and Jill Janet). Morgan's home is in Jackson. The rest are in Cape Girardeau.

2191 Aberdine Circle, Jackson

"We've had a lot of people ask about Pam Morgan's House," said Melody Anderson, the foundation's development director. "It's been being built for over two years now. It's over 8,000 square feet."

The Holiday Home Tour is one of only a few events LFCS hosts to raise money to help fund services. Because of a winter storm last year, the tour was postponed and turnout was only about 500 people. Anderson said she expects 700 to 1,000 visitors this time.

"This has been a tough year for the Lutheran Family and Children's Services Foundation in general, so we are hoping to really exceed that $20,000 mark to make up for those harder times ..." Anderson said.

120 Shady Path, Cape Girardeau

The foundation provides counseling, adoption services, child care, youth mentoring services and advocacy in Missouri. Founded in 1868, the not-for-profit organization serves 22,000 individuals or families every year.

Two of the homes are tucked back on narrow lanes, but a shuttle will Drive attendees to visit the homes. Those waiting for a ride can sip on coffee, hot chocolate and warm up around fire pits provided by foundation. The shuttle stop is at Kenco off Highway 177 in Cape Girardeau.

The homes will be decked out for the holidays. The Werner home on Crestwood drive will feature a collection of miniature Christmas villages, and other homes will showcase collectibles passed down from generation to generation.

180 Cedar Ridge Lane, Cape Girardeau

"We have many people who have done this tour for years and years. It's a wonderful day for family and friends to fellowship together while they are actually raising funds that help their own community," Anderson said.

Jill Janet, whose home is on Silver Campine Lane, has attended the event for several years.

"I'm doing this in dedication of my son-in-law, who was adopted, thankfully," Janet said. "I've been going on this tour all these years. Why not open my door for everybody else when everybody else does it?"

1722 Crestwood Drive, Cape Girardeau

Janet, a kindergarten teacher who retired this year, hopes to show others how people can create their own decorations on a small budget.

"I make all of my arrangements. I do it all myself. I use things I already have and just, like, for instance, if I have a vase with an arrangement in it, I just add some Christmas decorations to it. I'm a do-it-yourselfer," she said.

Janet isn't bothered by up to 1,000 people visiting her home.

2140 Silver Campine Lane, Cape Girardeau

"It just puts me in the Christmas spirit. That's what I hope to do for people. I want to play music and I want it to be cheery, inviting and just make people cheerful," she said.

Tickets are $25 a person in advance or $30 the day of the tour. Tickets are available at the Bank of Missouri in Cape, Jackson, Scott City, Perryville and Marble Hill, Sunny Hill Garden, Patrick Furniture, Southeast Health Gift Shop and the Lutheran Family and Children's Services Foundation office in Cape Girardeau.

For more information, call Lutheran Family and Children's Services at 334-5866 or visit www.lfcsmo.org.