Cup of Cheer Housewalk offers decorating inspiration
A skilled decorator of the Martha Stewart ilk may be living in your neighborhood, maybe even next door.
There could be ingenious craftiness, bold floral designs and seasonally inspired displays adorning every room.
The chance to step through a portal into each of four Naperville homes and see how the holidays imaginatively manifest themselves awaits those who secure tickets to the Naperville Garden Club's Cup of Cheer Housewalk on Friday, Dec. 5.
One house, in the Kinloch neighborhood, will feature a purple-and-gold theme in a decorating scheme described as "new traditional."
A house located in Jefferson Estates uses clever design touches and plenty of evergreen boughs to metaphorically whisk visitors to a Rocky Mountain ski chalet.
A third home, in the Fairways of Augusta neighborhood, features a bar, a game room and a theater.
Visions of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara may dance in the heads of those who visit a downtown Naperville abode that features a Southern theme, complete with a staircase framed by a mural depicting Naperville history.
A maximum of 1,300 tickets will be sold for the Friday house tour, said Marilyn Krueger, club president. The club also is making 200 tickets available for a preview tour on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Thursday's tickets are a bit pricier, said Krueger, but they offer a couple of advantages.
"There's no waiting in line," she said.
Also, preview ticketholders can get early access to the club's Holiday Market at North Central College. Gifts and decorations, many handcrafted by club members, will be for sale on the second floor of the college's White Activities Center.
The Cup of Cheer Housewalk, said Krueger, is a time-honored club tradition.
"This is our major fundraiser," she said.
Proceeds fund a variety of club activities, including guest speakers, a garden therapy group and scholarships for college students pursuing gardening-related careers, she said.
"Our primary thing is we give scholarships to students in college," she said, adding that students who live within Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 are given preference.
Students selected for scholarships are often awarded funding a second time so they can continue their educations, she said.
"We have had students that we have supported in graduate studies," she said.
The club's goal is to award a minimum of $12,000 annually, Krueger said. Those funds are divided into a variety of increments for each scholarship award.
Krueger said the club looks for students interested in careers in horticulture, landscape design, environmental studies, agricultural consumer economics and agricultural science.
"If we can have people who have an interest in conservation, in preserving the environment - the key to everything is the youth," she said.
<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Cup of Cheer Housewalk and Holiday Market, sponsored by Naperville Garden Club</p> <p class="News"><b>When: </b>Housewalk hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5; housewalk preview hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4 </p> <p class="News">Holiday market hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday for tour ticket-holders, open noon to 4 p.m. to public; holiday market preview hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday</p> <p class="News"><b>Where: </b>Housewalk is throughout the city; Holiday Market is at North Central College's White Activities Center, 325 E. Benton Ave., Naperville</p> <p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $30 for Friday Housewalk; $50 for Thursday preview </p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 983-1616 or <a href="http://www.napervillegardenclub.org" target="new">napervillegardenclub.org</a></p>