Community: Homes on tour are holiday delights
The Hoover High School PTA Tour of Homes is always a festive way to celebrate the holidays. Exploring the four homes decorated beautifully for the season allows guests a chance to socialize along the way.
This 57th annual event on Dec. 13 featured two homes on Kenneth Road, one on Cumberland Road and another on Arbor Drive.
“Building Community” was selected as the theme because it illustrates how the three schools — Hoover, Toll Middle and Mark Keppel Elementary — support each other’s activities, said PTA President Adrine Novshadyan. It is also indicative of how well the community supports the schools’ projects.
Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa was chosen as honorary chair because of his position in the community, said Armik Avedisian, tour chair.
“As is the tradition, we look for prominent people in the city who are community leaders or heads of organizations,” he said. “I really wanted Scott Ochoa because he is one of the newer people in the city and has a good following, which helps us to drive in more people to the tour.”
This year, the PTA doubled what it made the prior year, Novshadyan said. Last year, the PTA netted $8,000 from the home tour and $4,000 at the football game concession stands. Funds raised, $12,000, went to senior scholarships, but that is changing.
The net raised this year from the home tour was more than $17,000 and the net profit from the concession stands was more than $5,000, which brought the total to about $23,000. In addition to proceeds going to senior scholarships, funds will also go to needs of all four classes — freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.
A lot more people were involved in volunteering at the homes this year, Novshadyan said. The number of “House Moms” — those in charge of each home during the day — doubled, so a lot more parents, students and vendors were involved this year. These included Keller Williams Realty employees, who don’t have kids attending Hoover, and parents whose kids no longer attend the school.
Each home offered a special attraction. The Hoover Jazz Band performed at one home and the Hoover Choir was at another. There was a “Country Kitchen” with baked goods at one of the homes, while another had a “Dignitary Tea,” for which the Hoover culinary class baked all the items with ingredients purchased by the PTA.
Student members of the Hoover Public Safety Academy provided security and were available to administer first-aid if needed. The Hoover emergency training class is taught by Capt. Kristine Lowe. They escorted senior adults up one of the home’s long driveway. Novshadyan’s son Alex, a senior at Hoover, helped Lowe assign academy students to each of the homes.
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JOYCE RUDOLPH can be contacted at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.