Thank You One and All

 A heartfelt thanks from Roseann  and me for your outstanding  support of this year’s Holiday  Home Tour.  Despite many  challenges, we raised over $18,000 to provide local middle-school girls with Tech Trek camperships and scholarships for local women pursuing graduate degrees.  Preliminary ticket sales were just over $17,000.  Mary Mix’s beautiful quilt raised $1,005.  Kathie Hixon pulled the winning ticket and announced Sharon Edward of Livermore as the winner.  Liz Williams is delivering the quilt to her.  The jewelry boutique sold most of its jewelry and will be providing a check for the scholarship fund.  Sue Naas sold out of her caramel and chocolate candy apples by mid-day on Saturday.

A special thank you to our homeowners who opened their homes to us including current member and past president Judy Anderson who allowed us to use her home, the Festive L.A.–Mexican Celebration on Oak Glen Court.  Thank you so much Judy!  It is a tremendous gift of trust to allow your home to be toured by perhaps as many as 700 people.

Our request for volunteers was answered by 151 members willing to be docents including boutique and refreshment docents, membership and quilt leads, shuttle drivers, and Holiday Home Tour Committee members (including head docents, photographer, and refreshment coordinators).  In addition, over 34 people brought finger food for our guests.  It does take a village to hold a successful Holiday Home Tour.  At the end of this message is an alphabetical list of all volunteers.

By far the most important members of our Holiday Home Tour are the head house docents: Karen Large, Kathie Hixon, Holly Sauer, and Anna Freitas.  These ladies have been personally recruiting docents for months.  They coordinated and responded to requests for specific shifts while organizing their teams into four shifts.  They toured the houses, met the homeowners, prepared detailed docent notes about the homes, and worked the entire weekend at the homes.  With the deepest thanks, we celebrate our head house docents.  Also, a special thanks to Susan Terzuoli who offered to do whatever was needed for both days of the tour.  Little did she know that she would be coordinating the Friday refreshments, driving a Saturday shuttle, and returning to a refreshment shift on Saturday.  Susan stepped in wherever she was needed without complaint and with grace.

Our shuttle drivers were amazing and handled our guests with grace and care: Bruce Hixon, Melanie Wade, Darlene Guzman, Kate Dougherty, John Gallagher, Charla Gabert, Pat Foster, Mary Ellen Blake, Lynn Goodwin, Soni Leighton, Paul Freitas, Gary Crumley, Barbra Crumley, Kathy McKnight, Susan Terzuoli, and Anna Freitas.  Special thanks to the four husbands who drove shuttles.

Six prior Tech Trekkers and their mothers gave back by volunteering as docents:  Natalia Caveroegusquiza, Carmen David, Kathryn Walsh, Fanny La Noire, Betsy and Cristina Buselli. Four non-members (close friends of members) volunteered their time as docents.

The wonderful jewelry sold at the boutique was created by five AAUW members: Pat Hacker, Gail Clark, Maureen Mapes, Jessica Barrett and Roseann Krane.  They are donating a percentage of their proceeds to the Holiday Home Tour.

Liz Williams handled quilt ticket sales.  Our membership chairs Soni Leighton and Tena Gallagher staffed a membership table to encourage new memberships.

Refreshments were managed by Jean Frankel and Susan Terzuoli on Friday and by Loretta Altshuler on Saturday.  Norma Spencer, Robin Halloran, Sandy Killoran and Lyn Dodge organized drop-off homes and delivered the finger food to the Refreshment house.

There is a lot of work involved in making the tour successful including:

1)  Holiday Home Search Team looked for homes for 10 months.  Thank you Roseann Krane, Tena Gallagher, Kathie Hixon, Jennifer Krommenhoek, Soni Leighton, Robin Halloran, Anna Freitas and many others who suggested potential homes or contacted homeowners.
2)  Ticket sales including receiving ticket orders, updating our database, and sending tickets ordered from mail and on-line, plus handling East Bay Flower Company and reporting results was accomplished by Mary Mix and Marcia Steinhardt.
3) Tickets, postcards and posters were beautifully created by Dora-Thea Porter.
4) A very successful media campaign was accomplished by Tena Gallagher.
5) Connie Cady and Tena Gallagher put the directional signs to the homes on the streets to assist ticketholders.
6) Susan Terzuoli made and sorted the docent name tags and organized the blue booties.
7) Roseann Krane coordinated the jewelry boutique from concept, to staffing, to jewelry creation and established a team that handled the sales on tour days.
8) Marion Bliss, our official AAUW Holiday Home Tour photographer, will be creating outstanding photo montsges for the homeowners of their decorated homes.
9) Teresa Cheung established the on-line ticket website.

I want to share with you that LaVonne Lynch fell as she was leaving her docent shift and broke two ribs.  Please reach out to her and send her cards and your best wishes (the branch has sent flowers.)  Karen Large handled this accident with poise and care.  She was close by when it happened and received immediate assistance from Loretta Altshuler and Robin Halloran.  Karen drove LaVonne home, ensured she had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon, and arranged with a neighbor to drive her to the doctor’s office. Good job Karen!

I owe a personal debt of gratitude to everyone who was involved with the Holiday Home Tour.  I apologize if I forgot to acknowledge someone.  There were so many lovely people who helped.

Anna Freitas
2014 Co-Chair Holiday Home Tour