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Date: 8/21/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The West Springfield Boys and Girls Club is looking for volunteers for their annual Holiday Tour of Homes fundraiser in December.
The first holiday tour, which takes place each December, took place in 1995, Committee Member Robin Skowera told Reminder Publishing.
“Jean Weaver, a longtime board member, presented the idea and volunteered my home!” she said. “I then asked friends of mine, Cindy and Ted Palmer, and they agreed to do it also.”
Since then, the tradition of the holiday tour has continued, and is now entering its 23rd year. Committee Member, Tina Wood, said each year more than 600 people tour the homes, with many of them returning year after year. Resource Development Director and Coordinator of Club Fundraisers, Sarah Calabrese, said she’s been attending the Holiday Tour of Homes for almost 20 years.
“For almost two decades, I have been attending the Holiday TOH with my sister and mother,” she said. “This event puts us in the holiday spirit each year, and is very near and dear to our hearts.”
The Holiday Tour of Homes Guidebook serves as a ticket for the event, and can be purchased for $20. The book includes pictures and a description of each home, a map of “stops” in West Springfield and Agawam, and the menu for a lunch at the Storrowton Carriage House.
Other ways the club raises money during the holiday tour is by selling ads for the guidebook and selling Pilgrim Candles, a Westfield based candle company, at some of the homes. Calabrese said in the past, the club has also sold other items such as poinsettias. New to the tour this year is a grand Craft Fair that will take place at the Boys and Girls Club.
Also offered during the tour is a lunch stop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Storrowton Carriage House for $15 per person.
Calabrese said the funds raised during the Holiday Tour of Homes helps the Boys and Girls Club of West Springfield “continue to offer new and rewarding programs for local youth and Club staff alike.”
This year’s event is planned for Dec. 7, and is still in need of people to volunteer their homes for the tour. Anyone interested in opening up their home for the event should contact Calabrese at scalabrese@wsbgclub.com or call 736-1831.
“Opening up your home for one day to showcase your holiday and Christmas decor provides hundreds of children with the opportunity to follow their dreams,” Calabrese said.