While the New Windsor Heritage Committee has had successful home tours highlighting spirited tales from the town's past and sneak peeks at private gardens, the holiday home tour still remains a favorite for many visitors.
"We've heard a lot of feedback from people who like to see historic homes decorated for the holidays," said Kim Schultz, one of the coordinators of the tour.
This year's Holiday Homes and Historic Properties Tour will be held from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7. The tour will feature three private homes in town, two historic churches, and a property on Springdale Road with a one-room schoolhouse and a restored log home from the 18th century.
Schultz said the committee tries to mix up the properties included in the tour each year to encourage participants to keep coming back. The committee was excited this year to find a new home to be on the tour, she said, as well as a property that has not been included in a number of years.
New Windsor resident Sandee Custen said this is the first year that she knows of for her house to be on the tour, but she and her husband Calvin have only owned the Main Street home since April, so she can't be sure.
"It's a late Victorian American foursquare with Arts and Crafts flourishes," Custen said. "What's particularly wonderful about this house is that it has lovely woodwork on the inside that appears to be original with the house."
Custen said the house had been a foreclosure home in total disrepair a few years ago, but thankfully some flippers restored the home to its former glory before the Custens purchased it.
An additional point of interest to the Custens' home is their art collection, Schultz said. Calvin Custen is an artist, specializing in printmaking, but there is also a hanging sculpture in the home that he made, Sandee Custen said. Her mother is also an artist and some of her paintings are in the home, as well as some ceramics by a family friend.
Schultz said that for those who aren't into the architectural details and history of the homes on the tour, there's always the personal touches and holiday decorations that make the tour interesting.
"We encourage the homeowners to decorate for the holidays, and the churches will as well," Schultz said.
Virginia Lovell, who co-owns an 18th-century log house with her husband and the Springdale School with her husband's family, said her family divided up the decorating duties in order to make the most of their historic buildings for the tour.
Virginia and her husband John C. Lovell Jr. will be decorating the log house, which was originally located on a small farm on Springdale Road but was moved about a quarter of a mile to its current location in 2004, to sit next to the Springdale School, which was also owned by the Lovell family. Her brother-in-law Willis Lovell will be decorating the schoolhouse, which has a number of artifacts in it to give visitors a feel for what it may have looked like in the 1800s, Virginia Lovell said.
"Willis is actually going to load up the old potbelly stove in the middle where the children would get warm," she said.
In addition, New Windsor Middle School social studies teacher Lisa Macurak borrowed period books from the school and prepared lessons that her students will be using in a classroom re-enactment, said Doris Ann Pierce, of the Heritage Committee.
"This is going to be a real treat for those who are touring," Pierce wrote in an email. "The students and the teacher will be in period attire."
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children and students.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at any office of the New Windsor State Bank during normal banking hours, or at the New Windsor Museum, at 207 Main St. in New Windsor, either from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays or on the day of the tour. The last tickets will be sold at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 7.
Free parking will be available at the New Windsor State Bank on Main Street and at the Carroll County Public Library Headquarters lot, accessible by High Street or Green Valley Road.
Light refreshments and restrooms will be available at St. Paul United Methodist Church, one of the two churches available on the tour, and poinsettias will be on sale through the New Windsor Heritage Committee and Francis Scott Key High School at St. Luke's (Winter's) Lutheran Church, the second church included on the tour.
Participants are advised to wear suitable footwear for walking on uneven surfaces throughout town. Strollers, high heels, pets and photography are not permitted within the homes. Smoking is also not permitted on the tour.
For more information, call 410-259-0853 or 443-340-8056.
Early breakfast
St. Luke's (Winter's) Lutheran Church will offer its annual Hunter's and Early Riser's Breakfast Saturday, Nov. 29, commemorating the start of the deer hunting season.
If you're not a hunter, you might want to set your alarm clock, because breakfast will only be served from 3:30 to 9 a.m.
Breakfast includes pancakes, bacon, sausage, sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, biscuits and home fries.
The cost is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 6 through 12.
St. Luke's (Winter's) Lutheran Church is at 701 Green Valley Road, New Windsor.
For more information, call 410-635-6177.
Christmas Star Bazaar
St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Taneytown is having its 26th Annual Christmas Star Bazaar from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29.
The bazaar will feature crafts, vendors, flea market items and a large selection of homemade food, including freshly patted fried oyster sandwiches, sausage and egg sandwiches, barbecue sandwiches, hot dogs, homemade soups and beverages.
The bazaar will take place in the church social hall at 44 Frederick St.
For more information, call the church office at 410-756-2500.
Holiday fruit sale
The Taneytown Chamber of Commerce and Silver Oak Academy are holding a citrus fruit sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 6 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Taneytown Shopping Center.
Customers can preorder by Saturday by calling the chamber office at 410-756-4234 and leaving a message. Payment is due when order is picked up. Preorders will be held until 3 p.m. Dec. 7, and whatever has not been picked up by then will be sold to others. Customers who have not placed pre-orders are welcome to purchase fruit both days of the sale.
Fresh fruit from Florida — including navel oranges, red grapefruits, tangelos and tangerines — can be purchased by the box, half-box or dozen. Orders can be mixed.
Prices are: navel oranges for $31 per box or $19 for a half-box, red grapefruits for $28 per box or $17 for a half-box, tangelos for $27 per box or $16 for a half-box, tangerines for $37 per box or $22 for a half-box, and mixed boxes for $27 per box or $17 for a half-box. The prices for dozens vary.
Volunteers will help load the fruit into vehicles.
The Taneytown Shopping Center is at 520 E. Baltimore St., Taneytown.
Carrie Ann Knauer covers New Windsor, Union Bridge, Taneytown and neighboring communities in the West Carroll area. Contact her at 410-596-9248 or carrie.knauer@gmail.com.
