Whether you’re looking for holiday decorating ideas or are just keen on holiday glitz, the seventh annual Infant Welfare Holiday Housewalk will give you a chance to kick off the season while contributing to a good cause.
To benefit the Oak Park-River Forest Infant Welfare Clinic, six River Forest homeowners will open their holiday-decked digs to the public on Friday, Dec. 2 from 6 to 10 p.m. This year’s tour features homes on the 600, 700 and 800 blocks of Lathrop Avenue.
According to event co-chair Donna Weigel, the housewalk provides both “great ideas for the holidays and a chance for architecture buffs to see inside homes with a variety of styles.” The houses range from an architecturally significant 1890s Queen Anne Victorian to a 1925 English Tudor.
The housewalk is one of two major fundraisers the Oak Park-River Forest Infant Welfare Society holds each year to support its clinic at 320 Lake St. Money raised from ticket sales (and because the event is entirely staffed by volunteers, very little goes to expenses) funds dental, medical and social-work services for low-income children from infancy to age 20.
The clinic continues to see a sharp increase in the need for all aspects of its practice, according to Executive Director Elizabeth Lippitt. “There is a health crisis in the suburbs,” she says, adding that visits to the clinic are up 20 percent this fiscal year”to a whopping 6,549″following a 22-percent increase last year.
It’s not surprising, she observes, since the number of uninsured rose 20 percent in the suburban collar counties over the last two years. That tracks a national trend; about 40 percent of United States businesses do not provide employee health care coverage.
The Infant Welfare Clinic serves 47 suburbs, although Oak Park accounts for 40 percent of its client base and about 90 percent of patients come from the surrounding inner-ring suburbs.
The clinic’s full-time dental practice is especially crucial for families who can’t find affordable dental care anywhere else, notes Lippitt. “There are fewer and fewer places for families to access dental heath care. High quality dental care is costly, and our families pay around $20 a visit.”
And that’s why, she emphasizes, “We couldn’t function without fundraisers like this one. This housewalk is such fun”I always go with a bunch of friends to start the holiday season. But it’s also wonderful that the community continues to support the work we do.”
Walking the walk
The owners of the homes on the Holiday Housewalk this year “love the holidays and love to decorate for the holidays,” says Weigel. They’re also neighbors, so you’ll be able to park your car, pick up your tickets at the River Forest Library at 735 Lathrop Ave. and actually walk the walk.
Music is planned for every stop. Students of all ages will serve as strolling musicians, and a madrigal choir and string quartet from Oak Park and River Forest High School are scheduled to perform.
Here’s a preview of what you’ll see:
A 1920 Colonial. Owned by Mary and Dan Deziel, the home’s decor is “totally family centered,” says Mary. “That’s easy for us, since Christmas is our favorite holiday.”
Everyone participates. Each of the Deziels’ six children is decorating a tree, and the results will be on display in the huge family room addition that will also hold the family’s collection of nativity scenes. The kids are being encouraged to “reflect their own personalities” on their trees, so Mary expects to see ballet dancers and CDs dangling from branches.
Outside, Dan”aka “Mr. Christmas””is wrapping the home’s exterior in lights and wreaths.
Mary’s brother, Michael, also plays a major role in the family’s holiday celebration. An adult resident of Misericordia, a home for developmentally disabled children and adults in Chicago, Michael visits regularly and is “very much a part of our lives,” says Mary.
This year, the Deziels asked the art department at Misericordia to make a set of holiday dishes for their family. The “very cute, colorful” dinner plates, mugs and goblets”all handpainted by residents in one of four patterns with holiday themes”are set for dinner on the kitchen table.
In the living room, the main tree is decorated with ornaments that reflect family history, trips and traditions. “It’s so fun to get them out every year and reminisce,” notes Mary. There are lots of Santas she’s amassed over the years in here, too”so many, she confesses, she’s lost count.
A nutcracker collection is a highlight in the foyer. Mary fondly remembers seeing The Nutcracker as a child, and all of her children have seen it over the years as well.
A member of an Infant Welfare circle and past chair of the Holiday Housewalk, Mary is mindful of the purpose of the event. But she’s also delighted to be in full holiday mode.
“I’m real bad at Halloween, at other holidays. But Christmas is the one really indulgent thing we do. We go all out for Christmas.”
A gracious Victorian. Kitchen designer Jean Stoffer, husband Dale and their four children center their holiday decorating around a collection of creche scenes and lots of greenery. “I love to focus on the spirit of Christmas, on remembering the new birth,” says Stoffer.
Expect to see lots of live foliage here, with the exception of the tree. For the first time this year, the family is going with a fake”pre-lit and all.
“We seem to find trees that barely make it to Christmas. On the morning of Dec. 26, it’s out,” she explains. This time they plan to enjoy the tree without having to watch it die. It still will be filled with family memories: ornaments from Stoffer’s grandparents and mother, along with ones the children have made.
Stoffer and daughter Grace have been working overtime to make wreaths in the home’s colors for all 21 of the windows. The wreaths will hang from ribbons, color-coded to match each room’s decor.
Also on display will be a number of handmade, cross-stitched decorations. Stoffer’s sister has lived and worked with the poor in Indonesia for 20 years. She’s trained women to do the delicate stitching. “They work full time and feed their families by selling the beautiful pieces they create,” explains Stoffer.
“Museum quality” cross-stitched angels will hang in the living room and butler’s pantry. Another larger piece created by the Indonesian women will be in view in the living room. An advent calendar with each ornament cross-stitched to represent a part of the Christmas story, it holds a special place in the Stoffer family celebration.
“With each ornament there’s a card with scripture that tells a part of the story,” says Stoffer. The children take turns reading a card each night at dinner, and then on Christmas Eve they gather to read through all of them once more.
“I want to remember myself what Christmas is all about, to have a grateful heart, and I want my kids to remember, too,” she says.
A traditional 1925 Georgian. This home is a special treat for architecture buffs, according to Weigel. Built by W.E. Sloan, the inventor of tankless toilets, it features no less than 12 bathrooms. Visitors will be welcome on the first and lower levels; downstairs you’ll be able to take a peek at the tunnel that extends from the house to the garage.
The present owners have traveled extensively in France, and the home reflects French flair. They have three trees”one on the landing between the first and second floors, one in the living room and one decorated by the kids in the basement. A movie room will be playing a holiday movie.
Be sure to notice the 12-piece place setting of Lenox china in a Christmas pattern on the dining room table. One of the owners, a physician, received it as a gift from a medical school professor. When she was a student, her professor had a heart attack in front of her. She was able to save his life; the china was his way of saying thank you.
A 1925 English Tudor. This home will feature fresh evergreen garlands, poinsettias, fresh floral arrangements and candles. The owners, who have just returned from a trip to Ghana, have collected ornaments handed down through their families, some with African-American-inspired themes.
A special touch here is the exterior lighting that illuminates the whole front of the home.
A 1922 Burma-built home. The owner of this traditional home has a collection of Dickens characters from A Christmas Carol that will be on display on the living room mantel. A Christmas village will also adorn this room, along with one of the home’s two decorated trees.
In the dining room, an antique crystal chandelier, handed down from the owner’s grandmother, will be decked out for the holidays. The children’s homemade gingerbread houses and handmade decorations will be featured in the kitchen.
Outside, both the front and newly landscaped backyards will be alive with lights.
An 1892 Queen Anne Victorian. Once featured on the Wright Plus Housewalk, this architecturally significant home has been fully restored, inside and out. Garlands, pin-point lights and candles set off the original woodwork. The main staircase is wrapped in greens.
The fireplace surrounds, original Trent tiles, are draped with greenery and pine cones. Wreaths adorn the family room’s art glass windows.
The dining room table is set with antique china. The fireplace mantel here features cut glass compotes set off by colorful red and gold glass balls.
And although it’s not strictly holiday-related, keep your eye out for the owner’s collections of American art tile, church bird houses and antique fruit crate labels.
Tickets for the Seventh Annual Holiday Housewalk, on Dec. 2 from 6 to 10 p.m., are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. They can be ordered by mail (send a check payable to OPRF Infant Welfare Society Circle 2 by Dec. 1 to Holiday Housewalk at 317 N. East Ave., OP 60302), or online at www.infantwelfareoakpark.org.
Tickets should be picked up at the River Forest Library, 735 Lathrop Ave., between 3 and 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 2. Street and lot parking will be available. Holiday gifts will be on sale at a boutique in the library.
Ticketholders also are invited to participate in Dine and Share on the Avenue. Pick up coupons along with your tickets (as early as 3 p.m. on Dec. 2) and dine at one of seven local restaurants on Dec. 2 to 4. The restaurants will donate 10 percent of the cost of your meal to the Infant Welfare Clinic when you turn in the coupon. Participating restaurants are:
Cafe Le Coq, 734 Lake St.
Cucina Paradiso, 814 North Blvd.
Fuego Loco, 722 Lake St.
Hemmngway’s Bistro, 211 N. Oak Park Ave.
Papaspiros Greek Taverna, 733 Lake St.
Slaton’s Supper Club, 144 S. Oak Park Ave.
Winberie’s, 151 N. Oak Park Ave.
“Laura Stuart
