Spotlight: History for the holidays

There’s no one right way to ring in the season. Some hang garland, others hang wreaths. Some string lights all across the roofs and windows of their homes; others purchase LED projectors and place them in the front lawn.

But while the ways to celebrate the holidays may be countless, there’s one thing this time of year guarantees: a spirit of togetherness.

That might be one reason why the Concourse Club of Palmerton kicked off the holiday season with a Holiday House Tour, putting five historical houses in the borough on display for all to see on Nov. 30.

It’s been three years since the Concourse Club last held its seasonal circuit. The five homes featured sat on Princeton, Lafayette and Edgemont avenues.

Each house reflected the style and design of its owner, but for Sharon Minnich, co-chair of the club’s house tour, the evening was so much more than a chance to flaunt one’s décor.

“Not only do they highlight just the Christmas decorations, but a lot of the homes in Palmerton and a lot of the ones we feature have so much history to them, and they highlight that history also,” Minnich said.

Teri Delich, who also chairs the event and had her home on Edgemont Avenue open during the tour, felt that way, too.

“One of the things that I like about the house tour is (that) you’re not really sharing your home — you know, just your home — but you’re sharing your family traditions, and your culture,” Delich said.

Walking into the houses, it’s hard to imagine that they were built in the early or mid 1900s. Over the years, they’ve gone through renovations, additions and changes that have brought them into the modern era.

But that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their history.

When Meredith Koons moved into her home on Princeton Avenue in 2009, the floors and trimmings were painted seafoam green. It was built in 1936 and originally owned by a New Jersey Zinc executive.

Koons said the running theory — or joke — in the neighborhood is that the company must have been giving the paint out for free, because the interiors of other houses in the area were a similar shade. After months of stripping and refinishing, Koons and her father brought the American chestnut in her home back to its original glory.

“I think Palmerton has a lot of history, and I think everyone here has grown up passing these houses for years,” Koons said. “It’s important just so people can kind of see how lucky we were to grow up in a place that was so well-developed, so preplanned.”

A few owners found that their home’s reputation preceded itself. Caron Fenstermacher’s house on Princeton Avenue was built in 1926, and it was the oldest featured on the tour. It originally belonged to George F. Halfacre, former vice president of New Jersey Zinc.

“A lot of people in Palmerton know the whole history (of the house),” Fenstermacher said. “Matter of fact, more people on the tour knew more than I did about the house.

“It was really nice to meet people that love this town so much, and were just really curious to see what we did with the house,” she added.

Carla Smale’s home on Lafayette Avenue is known as the Foley house. It was built by Stella and Marvin Foley in 1941, and the original house contract was even on display. At that time, building costs totaled just over $5,000.

“So many people that came (to the tour) said ‘you know, we walked by your house all the time, and we just love your house and it was just so great to come in,’ ” Smale said.

“I think it gave people an opportunity to really see what (we) did over the years to kind of keep the history, but still update the home,” she added.

In Kathy Fallow’s case, history was told through the art running throughout her home, known as the Harris House, on Edgemont Avenue. Many local works populate its walls, from a painting of clematis flowers to her husband’s oil painting of Sugar Loaf Mountain.

But one of Fallow’s favorites is a cross stitch of Santa Claus holding a bag of gifts, which was completed by her father, John, in the last few years of his life.

Fallow said that in his late 60s, her father had a severe heart attack. He lost a part of his heart and couldn’t engage in athletic activities.

Left to lead a sedentary life, Fallow recalled her father needing something to occupy his time, and she had just the craft: counted cross stitching. Those kind of stories exist behind nearly all of the art displayed in Fallow’s home.

“Things are meaningful to me, I attach them to events in my life or I attach them to people,” Fallow said. “Most of the paintings that surround me are artists that I know and I want to encourage, or they tell me a piece of history about Palmerton.”