Mantua – For the first time ever, the Rotary Club of Mantua is hosting its Christmas Tour of Homes during the first two weekends in December. While usually held in November, this year’s December tour of homes will help you get into the holiday spirit, giving you ideas for decking your own halls while it begins to look a lot like Christmas around town.
Tour tickets may be purchased at the Red Caboose at the Mantua Station Pharmacy at the time of the tour. Reservations for the Candlelight Tour on Thursday, December 5th may be purchased by making a reservation for a 7 pm, 8 pm, or 9 pm time slot, with only 50 tickets available for each hour. Candlelight Tour ticket will allow guests to visit any homes during the daylight tour hours if they do not have the opportunity to view them all that evening. Please note that only 50 tickets are available for each hourly time slot.
Regular tour hours are Fridays, December 6 & 13, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm., Saturdays, December 7 & 14, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sundays, December 8 &15, from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm. Tickets are available at $10 for Friday through Sunday tickets, and $20 for December 5th’s Candlelight Tour tickets. Previous years’ crowds ranged from 600 to 800 attendees; if you’d like to join the fun, get your tickets today.
This year affords views of a variety of homes — old and new, large and small, with the opportunity to see historic features and lots of antiques. The four homes on the tour this year are the Zelezmik’s on Pioneer Trail, the Hilty’s on Reservoir Drive, the Frato’s on Bramley Drive, and the Snodgras home on Nicodemus Road in Shalersville. This year’s homes are a mixture of old and new, giving visitors the opportunity to view interesting architectural details along with treasured family antiques and collectibles.
In conjunction with the Christmas Tour of Homes, a craft show will be open at the Mantua Center Elementary School Thursday, December 5th through Sunday, December 8th. Hours of the craft show are 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm Thursday evening, 11:00 am to 7:00 pm on Friday, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday, and 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday. At this time, tours of the Center School, which was recently established as a national historic site, will also be available.
In addition, join the fun on Thursday evening, December 5, at a special opening reception. This special event will be held at the George and Helen Hazlette home, located on First Street, in what was once the Mantua Methodist Church. Reservations are required for this event. For reservations, or for more information about the Christmas Tour of Homes in Mantua, contact Virginia at (330) 274-2376.
