Submitted by Carole Malakoff
The 33rd Annual Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour will be held on Friday, December 12 from 5:00 to 11:00 pm and Saturday, December 13 from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Tickets are selling very quickly. Dinner, Brunch and Lunch Tour tickets are sold out. Regular Tour tickets are still available after 6:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Tell your family, friends, and co-workers to purchase theirs today!
The Tours
As always, the tour will feature 6 homes on the regular tour, plus 4 homeowners hosting Brunch, Lunch or Dinner.
Homes open for the regular tour are:
- 950 Beech Avenue – Carrie Doyle
- 926 Beech Avenue – Trish and John Burton and family (This home will be decorated with the help of The Urban Gardener, our North Side garden center.)
- 834 Beech Avenue – Jessica and Bill Murphy
- 913 Brighton Road – Carole and Bob Malakoff
- 849 North Lincoln Avenue – Hal Dixler and Nick Duerlinger
- 719 Brighton Road – John DeSantis (Also, the Toy Train Museum will be open here. Tickets to view it may be purchased on-line in advance or at the door for $12.)
Hosts for the Dinner, Brunch, and Lunch tours are:
- 929 Beech Avenue – Linda and Joe Iannotta (Linda will be preparing all of the food for the brunches, lunch and dinner.)
- 844 North Lincoln Avenue – Cecile and Carl Canales
- 1021 Galveston Avenue – Debra and John Lantz
- 913 Beech Avenue – Shirley Mehring and Howard Brokenbek
These homeowners need your help. Offer them a helping hand to decorate, welcome guests, or serve food.
Toy Train Museum
Something new this year at The Toy Train Museum at Holmes Hall … available for sale, the newly released book, Greenberg’s Guide to Lionel Standard & 2-7/8 Gauges, 1901-1940. This is a 432 page edition with 1,364 illustrations, many of them from the John DeSantis collection. The perfect holiday gift for the toy train enthusiast.
Signed copies are $100.
Committee members and homeowners have been working since September to put this event together. Now there are several things you can do:
Volunteer Opportunities
Tour guides are still needed – contact Doug Sprague, dougsprague63@yahoo.com
Housesitters are also needed – contact Carole Malakoff, carolemalakoff@hotmail.com
Clean-up
Fill a trash bag with leaves and other “stuff“ from your curb and street. Sweep leaves out to the street. City street sweepers will be around the neighborhood on Wednesday and Thursday before the tour. Please move cars from the street so they can do their job.
Street Closings
Beech Avenue (both blocks), Galveston (from Dounton Way to Buttercup Way), the 800 block of North Lincoln Avenue, Rope Way (from Buttercup Way to North Lincoln Avenue) and the 800 block of Buttercup Way will be closed to traffic from 4:00 to 11:00 pm on Friday and from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm on Saturday.
Off-street parking is available at:
- the CCAC lot on Ridge Avenue, just across from the Fort Duquesne on-ramp
- the Babb Inc. lot on the corner of North Lincoln and Galveston Avenues
- the Smart Solutions lot on the north side of the 800 block of West North Avenue
Volunteer Party
All volunteers are invited to help celebrate another successful tour in Allegheny West, on Saturday evening, December 13 from 9:00 to 11:00 pm at the Smart Solutions facilities on the 800 block of West North Avenue. Our tours have been so successful over the years because of the effort and spirit that you, the volunteers, have put forth. Let’s do it again this year!