The Gold Coast Tour of Sept. 24-25 2011 was a huge success. The 5 homes on the tour were spectacular and compliments were flowing. “One of the best I’ve been to…”; “I can’t imagine them (911 W. 7th St.) changing from a boarded up house to this in 2 years!”; “This is my first tour and I’m so impressed…”; “the magnitude of the brochures was awesome”; and on and on. Guests, homeowners and tour committee alike were all delighted with the tour. In spite of cloudy and sometimes rainy conditions, approximately 800 guests viewed the homes, the Jipp Center and the German American Heritage Center. This was an increase of approximately 200 people over the past few years of the tour.
Guests walked, drove or took the free bus from one house to the next in an area that spanned the Gold Coast boundaries. To add to the ambience there was live music at 614 W. 5th St. and area residents, Pam and Dennis LaRoque, sauntered the neighborhood in period costume. The brochures contained a complete history of the homes and original homeowners, and the newly revised Walking Tour Brochures were handed out.
Though a fund raiser Gold Coast residents see the annual home tour as an invitation to guests to view the wonderful homes in the historic district. Our thanks to homeowners DeAnna Walter and Rick Kimmel (614 W. 5th St.) Lois and Maurice Woods (604 Gaines St.), Mike Ryan (625 Scott St.), Judy and Jim Thomas (911 W. 7th St.), Laura and Jim Countryman (927 W. 8th St.); Our thanks also to over 70 volunteers from within and outside the neighborhood who helped to make this a success. And our thanks go to the brochure advertisers who continually support the Gold Coast. Home tour committee members were Sara Bartholomew, Marion Meginnis, PJ Slobojan.