Submitted by Carole Malakoff

Everything you need to know about this year’s Christmas Tour, and more…

This year’s tour is Friday, December 12, 5:00 – 8:00 pm and Saturday, December 13, 10:00 am-8:00 pm. 

In addition to regular tours ($30), there will be brunch and lunch ($60), and dinner tours ($120).

Ticket Sales

Tickets are selling briskly. Regular, brunch, lunch and dinner tours are about 1/3 sold out. We are expecting a sell-out again this year, bringing more than 1500 visitors into our small neighborhood. To purchase tickets or for more details, check our web-site, www.alleghenywest.org.

The homes on the regular tour

950 Beech – Carrie Doyle
926 Beech – Trish and John Burton and family
834 Beech – Jessica and Bill Murphy
913 Brighton – Carole and Bob Malakoff
849 N Lincoln – Hal Dixler and Nick Duerlinger
719 Brighton – John DeSantis

Hosting brunch and lunch

913 Beech – Shirley Mehring and Howard Brokenbek
1021 Galveston – Debra and John Lantz
844 N Lincoln – Cecile and Carl Canales

Hosting dinner

929 Beech – Linda* and Joe Iannotta

*Linda is doing all of the food for the dinner, brunches, and lunch again this year. 

The Holiday Gift Shop

Again this year, The Holiday Gift Shop will be in the basement of Calvary Church, the start of the tour, so guests can shop before going on tour. Arrangements will be made to hold purchases for guests while they tour. For more information about the shop, contact:

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:glasscatcher38@aol.com”] Martin Fuess [/ebor_button]

Train Museum

The popular Toy Train Museum will, once again, be open at Holmes Hall. DVDs of the train exhibit will also be for sale ($15). They sold out last year so, if you want to purchase one, do so now via Amazon:

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”http://www.amazon.com/Tinplate-Legends-Action-Part-3/dp/B009G74M7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415472542&sr=8-1&keywords=Tinplate+Legends+in+Action%2C+Part+3″] Tin Plate Legends in Action, Part 3 [/ebor_button]

Street decorating

We will be decorating our streets on Saturday, December 6, starting at 9am. Volunteers will be bunching greens in the Serventi/Wilson garage on Dounton Way, just off Galveston.

Clean-up

Also on Saturday, the 6th, please join your neighbors and help pick up litter around the neighborhood. If each of us fills one trash bag with litter, our streets will be litter-free.

We need your help!

There are many opportunities to volunteer. On Saturday, the 6th, come out for a few hours to help bunch and hang greens for the neighborhood lamp posts. During the tour, you can be a tour guide, a conductor at the Toy Train Museum, a greeter at Calvary Church, a house-sitter for a homeowner on tour. You can also help light luminaria or set up the street closing barricades.

Holiday Party

All volunteers are invited to our Holiday Party. This year it will be at the Smart Solutions facilities, the old Hipwell building, on the 800 block of West North Avenue, on Saturday, December 13 starting at 9pm.

Decorating by The Urban Gardener

Our local North Side garden center, The Urban Gardener, will be decorating the Burton home for the tour.

Post Gazette story

Look for a feature on Trish and John’s home in the Post Gazette on Saturday, December 6.

To volunteer

Contact the following coordinators:

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Tour guides

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:dougsprague63@yahoo.com”] Doug Sprague [/ebor_button]

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Church greeters

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:brandonpwilliams@hotmail.com”] Brandon Williams [/ebor_button]

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Party helpers

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:glowalks@comcast.net”] Gloria Rayman [/ebor_button]

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Lighting luminaria

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:fetterstudio@comcast.net”] Chris Fetter [/ebor_button]

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Toy Train Museum conductors

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:ccanales2@comcast.net”] Cecile Canales [/ebor_button]

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Housesitters and everything else

[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”mailto:carolemalakoff@hotmail.com”] Carole Malakoff [/ebor_button]

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Street Closings

To insure the safety of all, the following streets will be closed to traffic and parking on Friday, the 12th from 4pm to 11pm and on Saturday, the 13th from 9am to 11pm:

  • the 800 and 900 blocks of Beech Avenue
  • Rope Way from Buttercup Way to Western, and from Western to N Lincoln
  • Galveston Avenue from Dounton Way to Buttercup Way
  • N Lincoln Avenue from Galveston to Brighton Road

Please make arrangements to park elsewhere. We will provide information on off-street lots available closer to the tour weekend.

The next Tour Committee meeting will be on Thursday evening, November 13 at 7:30 pm at 913 Brighton Rd. Everyone is invited to attend.