Historical December 1988 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Set aside Sunday. December 18th for a day of special holiday events in Skinker-DeBaliviere. Delmar Baptist Church will include a Christmas cantata in their morning worship service: the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council will sponsor a Christmas Walk/House Tour and an outdoor lighting contest: the Breitmayer Ministry of Grace United Methodist Church will host a Christmas party for neighborhood children: St. Roch Catholic Church will host a Christmas concert: and Grace & Peace Fellowship will host its annual Christmas program of music and drama followed by neighborhood caroling. Read on for more details about each of these events!
The adult choir of Delmar Baptist will perform “Make We Joy: A Christmas Cantata in the Medieval Style” composed by Wilmetta Spencer. Organ, oboe and brass quartet will accompany the choir.
The children’s choir will also participate in the service by performing Hal Hopson’s “A Night for Dancing.” The service begins at 10:45 a.m.
Lunch will be served in Fellowship Hall following the service: Doug Vancil, music director, will play the organ for 30 minutes at 2 p.m. and again at 3 p.m.
The church will remain open until 4 p.m. for SDCC’s Christmas Walk/House Tour.
The Christmas Walk/House Tour is back this year.
Even the best events need a rest and SDCC opted not to sponsor the tour last year. House tours are a special tradition in Skinker DeBaliviere. Volunteers organized the first tours twenty years or so ago to market the neighborhood and attract responsible home buyers to our area which then was barely staving off the throes of decline.
As the neighborhood steadily improved the house tour evolved into a Christmas Walk.
The event is still a good marketing tool, but the focus has shifted; it’s a holiday “show-off” as much for our own neighbors as for residents outside of the area. Expect to see spectacular Christmas decorations and quality and innovative rehab work in these homes open for tour:
6047 Waterman (Forslund/Roncal)
6113 Pershing (Dowgwillo)
6148 McPherson (Wampler)
6178 McPherson (Fox)
6143 Kingsbury (McCarthy)
6124 Westminster (Schoenfeld)
6227 McPherson (Fanson)
6237 McPherson (Conger) The house tour runs from 1-4 p.m. and admission is free. SDCC is sponsoring the outdoor lighting contest again this year.
One winner each will be selected from Parkview, Rosedale and Washington Heights.
The winners receive a commemorative Christmas ornament. Judging will take place after dusk on the 18th.
From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. the Breitmayer Community Ministry, with help from SDCC, will sponsor its second annual Christmas party for neighborhood children. Activities at the party include crafts, music, holiday treats and a special appearance by Santa Claus. Adults who want to go on the house tour and prefer not to take the kids along are welcome to leave their children at the party. Parents are welcome at the party too, of course.
The party will be held in Fellowship Hall.
Admission is a toy in good condition.
At 4 p.m., a 40 voice community choir will perform a Christmas concert at St. Roch Catholic Church under the direction of Greg Schweizer.
The choir features familiar faces and voices from St. Roch’s along with some of Schweizer’s voice students and members of other parishes as well.
The concert includes a variety of holiday music including traditional Christmas carols.
Admission is free.
The Grace & Peace Fellowship Christmas program will begin at 6 p.m.
The program features music and drama, children and adults.
Admission is free. Christmas caroling throughout the neighborhood immediately follows the program.
For more information on any of these programs, contact the sponsoring institutions directly, or call SDCC, 862-5122. Happy Holidays!
Original photograph caption
Two elegant Parkview homes, at 6227 and 6237 McPherson, will be featured on the December 18th Christmas Walk and House Tour. Photo by King Schoenfeld. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1988, page 1.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1988.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1988_12.pdf, printed page(s) 1, 4, 5; PDF page(s) 1, 4, 5.
