Palmerton homes were on display earlier this month with The Concourse Club’s Christmas House Tour, held for the first time since 2018.

Sharon Minnich, a co-chair of the event, said the club was set with houses for the 2020 tour, but then COVID-19 hit. They considered holding it in 2021, but changed their minds.

“We decided to hold off another year, but I think everybody was ready to get back on the house tour,” she said. “I think it’s a great community event.”

The tour is usually held every other year as a fundraiser for the Concourse Club, and has been going on for about 30 years.

It used to be held on a Saturday afternoon, but was moved to a Friday night as the kickoff event for Palmerton’s Christmas Weekend and the Christmas tree lighting in the park.

Concourse Club member Sue Choy said, “It’s a great way to get in the holiday season. It brings people together. And it’s lovely to see all of the decorations.”

“It’s events like this that make Palmerton special,” Minnich added.

This year, the club sold 241 of the 250 tickets they had available, Minnich said. Usually, they only print 200 tickets. Each ticket cost $10 for the tour of four houses and refreshments at the hospitality center at Holy Trinity Church.

The money goes back into the community through projects like the restoration of the bandstand, improving the walkways, purchase of lighting and trees for the park.

“We’ve kept the ticket prices the same for years, because we just want people to come out and enjoy it and get a little of the Christmas spirit,” Minnich said.

The houses on this year’s tour were 371 Harvard Avenue owned by Janet Heck Salek. It was built in 1936.

Down the street and around the corner, 590 Harvard Court was open to visitors. The contemporary-style house was built in 2003 and is owned by Jim and Tiffani Christman.

The third house was 604 Columbia Avenue. Built in the 1956, owner Carol Curcio has kept much of the 1950s feel with just a few updates.

Then a short drive out of town, the homeowners of Quiet Hills Lavender Farm at 1995 Hemlock Street greeted visitors on the tour. The house, now owned by Chris and Sheri Anthony, used to be a Mennonite retreat center.

Each home was decked out for the holidays with a mix of new decorations and nostalgic gems, along with family heirlooms and precious gifts.

In Salek’s 1936 home, she displayed many antiques handed down from her parents. On a cabinet in the foyer sat a miniature antique carousel with lights that still lit up and little horses that still moved up and down. Salek said it is one of her favorite pieces.

She also admires the set of formal dishes her maternal grandmother, Lily Vanderburg, hand painted with gold. She signed them on the back, some in her maiden name because they were painted before she got married.

At Carol Curcio’s 1956 house, the focal point of her home is a white Christmas tree designed specifically to hold her collection of Waterford crystal ornaments. Her husband gave her one when they first met, and carried on the tradition giving her one or more each Christmas. The tree is lit with white lights and green velvet ribbons adorn the stems among the crystal ornaments.

Curcio loves glass ornaments. In her finished basement, there is a Christmas tree with red and white glass ornaments, some of them she made at the Corning Museum of Glass, her daughter-in-law Laura Curcio said. The tree is also adorned with lights that look like little candles, a nod to Carol’s days as a college student at the University of Vienna, Laura explained.

In the dining room of the house, Carol had lighted, miniature ceramic Christmas trees, like the larger ones many people had as decorations in the ’60s and ’70s. On the floor beside the fireplace sit an array of larger ceramic Christmas trees in various colors, but one is very special.

Carol said her husband became orphaned as a teenager. A couple of years ago, they received a special gift - a lighted ceramic Christmas tree made by her husband’s father. Curcio said her older sister’s friend’s brother had the tree. The family lived in the same neighborhood as her husband when he was a child. When the friend’s brother passed away, his sister saw the tree and gave it to the Curcio’s. Written on the bottom of the tree was the name of her husband’s father.

There’s a family heirloom at the Christman house. They are a collection of crocheted white lace angels that Tiffani Christman’s grandmother made about 30 years ago. The angels adorn a small tree next to the staircase in her home.

“She taught me, but I’m not nearly that talented,” Christman said. Her grandmother is now gone, but the angels remain.

The rest of the house is decorated in a style that Tiffani said, is “all about sparkle. Inspired by the Hallmark Channel.” Her favorite feature is her Christmas tree in her living room.

“Our whole family decorates it on Thanksgiving,” she said.

At the Quiet Hills Lavender Farm, Chris and Sheri Anthony went for a warm and cozy feel with an outdoorsy theme. Two 12-foot tall Christmas trees with white lights stand in the corners of the living room with a view of the Lehigh Valley Gap behind them. They are Sheri’s favorite feature, and Chris agreed.

“We counted the tree that we have at the house and in our outdoor displays. They are of various shapes, sizes, colors and material, but there are at least 90,” Sheri said.

In addition to a wide variety of Christmas decorations, there are two collections upstairs that grew from tradition. One is a collection of stiffened cloth Santa Claus figurines in a variety of poses. One Santa is holding a tray with a miniature roasted turkey on it. The collection was started by Sheri’s father, Richard Nothstein.

Sheri also has a collection of Byers’ Choice Salvation Army caroler dolls. They used to belong to her grandparents. Now, they decorate a shelf in her home office for the Christmas.

Teri Delich, the other co-chair of the event, said she loves being involved with the house tour.

“I love decorating,” she said. Her own home was in the house tour one year.

“I like people coming over to my house, and I like to go into somebody else’s house and look around. People who come to the tour are looking for ideas for decorations. I think it’s a time when they get to meet old friends because many people in the community do the tour.”