LFCS announces home-tour sites, marks 30 years

The Lutheran Family & Children's Services annual holiday home tour will return the first Saturday in December for its 30th year.

"We hit that milestone," said LFCS regional development officer Michelle Ramsey said of the Dec. 2 event. "I think the biggest thing (behind the home tour's success) is it's something different and unique. We've done it and have it down and know how to pull it off."

She said the organization is celebrating by doing a "blast from the past."

"We're going to try to bring back a favorite home," she said.

That featured home is that of Cindy and Ron Buchheit on William Street, which Ramsey said was built in 1904.

"It was built by the Hirsch family, who founded KFVS," she said. "But we do have five brand-new homes that haven't been on (the tour) before."

The houses include those of Jared Ritter on North Lorimier Street, Mark and Elizabeth Seesing on Good Hope Street, Ted and Jessica Westendorf on Kensington Lane, Tim and Melanie Gutwein on Flagstone Drive and Greg and Linda Illers on Blackberry Ridge Road.

The latter three locations will require a shuttle service from the former Blue Cross Blue Shield building on Siemers Drive. The LFCS home office at 3178 Blattner Drive will serve as the refreshment stop along the route.

During the tour, the refreshment stop will accept canned food. Tourists who contribute food will be entered to win prizes including jewelry and $500 cash.

The event, Ramsey said, is one of only two fundraisers LFCS holds each year.

"It's huge for us," she said. "This really fills in the gaps in a big way. This event averages for us generally $30,000 to $40,000."

That money goes to funding LFCS services, including parenting classes and geriatric counseling, Ramsey said.

Last year, about 850 tourists participated. She said numbers higher than 800 are considered a good turnout, though when the Boat House was featured about five years ago, there were almost 1,000 attendees.

Ramsey thanked the current and past homeowners who have participated in the tour over the last three decades.

"The big credit goes to the homeowners," she said. "They're the ones with that generosity to open their homes up for up to a thousand people to traipse through their personal space."

tgraef@semissourian.com

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