California Heights Neighborhood Association (CHNA) hosted a kick-off party Saturday at Delius Restaurant for their upcoming 2007 Home & Garden Tour. The event was held to introduce and thank the homeowners of this year’s six featured residences. Co-coordinator of the tour, Kerrie Weaver, describes this year’s event as including several Spanish-style homes and a beautiful Craftsman bungalow.
During the kick-off, board members made it clear that it takes more than 100 volunteers to make the event a success. While the volunteers assist with a variety of things, the majority of them participate as docents on the day of the tour.
In a press release the organization said the following: “The problem is that we never seem to have enough docents and we could use a little help. It is not a complicated task. Docents act as tour guides in each of the tour’s homes and gardens. They are assigned to one of the houses on the tour and are given a brief “script” describing the architectural features of the house and the changes the house may or may not have gone through over the years. Four to five docents are usually assigned to each house (depending on the size of the home) and each docent only works one shift. Besides the personal fulfillment, docents tour the homes for free.”
The Eleventh Annual California Heights Home and Garden Tour will take place Sunday, October 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s tour features a beautiful 1930s Craftsman Bungalow, the former home of past Long Beach 7th District Councilmember Ray Grabinski as well as several Spanish Colonial Revival style homes that dominate the Cal Heights landscape. The homes this year have original architecture features as well as sympathetic additions, newly remodeled kitchens and bathrooms.
First Team Real Estate agent John Reynolds is back again supporting the event by sponsoring the tour and hosting the refreshments. John has participated every year since the inception of the tour–even hosting long distance while living briefly out of state.
Back again but with a new menu are the gourmet box lunches prepared by Delius Restaurant.
Other regulars back to the tour include the fabulous floral centerpieces by Bixby Knolls Florist, talented musicians and Victrola music. The little red trolley should be back from its recent renovation and ready to pick up and drop off riders near each of the homes and Mr. Jan’s Antique Mall throughout the event.
Ticket cost is $20 pre-sale or $25 on the day of the event. Tickets with gourmet box lunch are $30 and are only available pre-sale until October 14.
Tickets are now available at Mr. Jan’s Antique Mall, 1133 East Wardlow Road, (562) 424-9935 and B & B Hardware, 929 East Wardlow Road, (562) 490-2269. Please note that on the day of event, tickets will only be available at Mr. Jan’s Antique Mall. CHNA is unable to accept credit cards and apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
For more information call CHNA at (562) 424-6727 or go online to www.calheights.org. Home tour ticket order forms will be available on the website.
Docents and general volunteers are always needed! If you are interested in volunteering call Kathryn Costantino at (562) 981-3671 or e-mail calheightshometour@earthlink.net.
