An opportunity to tour unique Seymour homes and help a good cause is coming up Saturday.
From 4 to 8 p.m., people can visit six homes in any order and learn more about them.
At each one, they also will be able to learn more about Community Diner, a not-for-profit organization in Seymour providing hot, nutritious meals to whoever needs one.
Participating in the Holiday Home Tour are Deb and Max Bedwell, 2126 Mark Twain Ave.; Traci and William Copley, 403 S. Chestnut St.; Becky and Scott Davis, 619 N. Walnut St.; Jessica and Dr. Grant Olsen, 1624 Windsor Court; Linda and Jack Sullivan, 613 N. Walnut St.; and Laurie and Dr. Steve Windley, 729 W. Sixth St.
“It gets people in the Christmas spirit, gives people ideas of how they can decorate their homes for the coming year or in future years and see what other houses look like on the inside,” said Robbie Baird, secretary of the Community Diner board.
At the same time, it brings awareness to Community Diner.
“We will have Community Diner brochures at each home, so anybody that wants to know more about Community Diner can find out from us because there will be a board representative at each of the homes to answer any questions and to ensure that the visitors are courteous and responsible with the home that they visit,” Baird said.
Tickets are $10. They are available by emailing [email protected]; calling Lucy Dembek at 812-528-5022 or Margaret Gladney at 812-498-7609; or visiting Jubilee Flowers & Gifts, 801 W. Tipton St., Seymour, or Picket Fence Antiques & Collectibles, 210 W. Second St., Seymour. Checks should be made payable to Community Diner.
There will be a drawing for a door prize, so anyone going on the tour should put their name and phone number on the back of their ticket and place it in the basket at the last home toured.
Community Diner’s first Holiday Home Tour was in 2015 and included a combination of homes and businesses.
“There used to be a home tour done once before, and some of the board members had attended that, and they thought it would be a real good idea to bring it back and try to contact people that have interesting homes or historic homes,” said Sally Spurgeon, treasurer of the Community Diner board.
Baird said the first tour brought in about $300 for Community Diner.
They weren’t able to get everything together in time for a tour in 2016, but they were able to make it happen for this year. Based on feedback from the 2015 tour, they decided to make it all homes this time.
Money raised will go toward the meals, which are served from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. every Monday at First United Methodist Church, 201 E. Third St., Seymour.
Community Diner started serving meals in 2010 once a month at the Seymour Community Center. In the spring of 2016, it moved to the church and started serving every Monday.
The meals are free and open to anyone and are available eat-in or takeout.
“We’re open to anybody in the community,” Baird said. “We ask no questions. There are no guidelines.”
Spurgeon said all of the meals are home-cooked and fresh, and they are different each week.
Baird said it takes about $75 to put on each meal, and they serve about 60 people.
Community Diner welcomes groups to volunteer to come in and prepare a meal. The kitchen area, utensils, dishes and trays are provided. The group just has to provide the volunteers, purchase the food and prepare it.
If it’s a large group, Baird said duties can be split up with one group planning the meal, one shopping for the food, one preparing it and another one serving and cleaning up.
“I know a lot of businesses are really pushing community service, community involvement. We are more than happy to provide you with suggestions,” Baird said.
“And our board would be willing to go out and talk to these people if they would contact us,” Spurgeon said.
Food and monetary donations also are accepted.
A portion of the proceeds from the Holiday Home Tour will go toward the future of the organization.
“That’s another reason why we’re doing this is not only to raise money for meals but also hopefully maybe have a little extra money that we can put into our building fund so that we can have our own place and we can expand our meals to Monday through Friday serving lunch and dinner,” Baird said. “We would like to stay in a centralized area, and we don’t need anything really big.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”At a glance” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Donations to the Community Diner for operations or the building fund can be mailed to P.O. Box 502, Seymour, IN 47274.
Meals are free and are served from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. every Monday at First United Methodist Church, 201 E. Third St., Seymour.
Each week’s menu is posted on the Community Diner of Seymour Facebook page.
Information: Email [email protected] or [email protected] or “like” the Community Diner of Seymour on Facebook
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: Holiday Home Tour
When: 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Seymour homes of Deb and Max Bedwell, 2126 Mark Twain Ave.; Traci and William Copley, 403 S. Chestnut St.; Becky and Scott Davis, 619 N. Walnut St.; Jessica and Dr. Grant Olsen, 1624 Windsor Court; Linda and Jack Sullivan, 613 N. Walnut St.; and Laurie and Dr. Steve Windley, 729 W. Sixth St. The homes may be toured in any order during the allotted time.
Cost: Tickets are $10. They are available by emailing [email protected]; calling Lucy Dembek at 812-528-5022 or Margaret Gladney at 812-498-7609; or visiting Jubilee Flowers & Gifts, 801 W. Tipton St., Seymour, or Picket Fence Antiques & Collectibles, 210 W. Second St., Seymour. Checks should be made payable to Community Diner. There also will be a drawing for a door prize, so be sure to put your name and phone number on the back of your ticket and drop it in the basket at the last home you visit.
Proceeds: Community Diner weekly meals and building fund
[sc:pullout-text-end]