Annual Holiday Home Tour is looking for homes

Don’t let the triple-digit weather fool you. Christmas is on the minds of those planning this year’s Canyon Lake Woman’s Club Annual Holiday Home Tour and they need your home.

“We are excited for the tour to be coming back this December,” Shawna Bowen, the club’s president, said. “Your home could be one of the select few featured on our 50th Anniversary Tour. We do all the work. You just open your home for all to enjoy.”

The event is a Holiday Home Tour, not just a Christmas Tour and Shawna emphasizes that all winter holidays are welcome to be considered for the tour.

“This event is looked forward to by so many in the community,” she said. “People invite family and friends to come and make a whole day of it.”

The tour starts at the Lodge where everyone picks up their tour maps, partakes in some provided refreshments and shops the vendors displaying holiday items for purchase. Everyone then heads off on a self-guided tour of the homes on the map.

The afternoon ends back at the Lodge where several themed and decorated Christmas trees, wreaths, and centerpieces are auctioned off.  In past years, there have even been celebrities’ homes on the tour.

The tickets are $15 each and children over 10 are welcome on the tour with a paid ticket.

Those tickets will go on sale as December approaches. Right now the club is seeking houses that want to participate being on the tour.

“Are you thinking of showing your home, but do not know what is involved?” Shawna said. “It’s simple. You decorate and we do the rest. We provide a docent in each room you choose to display. Not every room of the house needs to be part of the tour. We have fun and clever ways of keeping “Santa‘s Workshop” and “Elf’s Sleeping Quarters off limits.”

Required booties are provided and must be worn to enter each home. The Woman’s Club can also help decorate the homes by providing teams of helpful elves, Shawna said.

“We can do all the work and the community gets to enjoy your beautiful décor,” she said. “You will be helping us raise funds that go back into our philanthropic efforts in the community.”

For those interested in being on this 50th Anniversary Home Tour, reach out to Jill Batinich at 951-396-9252. Those wishing to be a vendor at the beginning of the tour can also contact Jill for information.