BELWOOD – The problem in Kathy Sievert’s home is not the number of Christmas trees she has on display – and there are 50 this year.
It’s the number of tree ornaments she and her daughter have collected over the years.
When the trees get full, they get another tree, and so it’s gone on for decades.
And now Sievert is opening her doors and showing off those trees as a fundraiser for the Fergus Curling Club and its quest to install a new floor, which is estimated to cost $500,000.
The Christmas Wonderland Home Tour is slated for Dec. 14 and 15 from 10am to 4pm on each day.
Tickets are $10 per person and 30-minute time slots must be prebooked.
Sievert’s address, just outside Belwood, will be given upon booking.
The out-of-control Christmas decor is mostly her daughter’s fault, Sievert said with a laugh as she offered a tour of the trees.
“Michelle is the collector; I’m just the enabler,” she quipped.
Both women belong to a Hallmark ornament collector’s club and the vast majority of the tree ornaments are Hallmarks.
But they’ve picked up ornaments while on vacation, have received some as gifts, and many were handcrafted by Sievert’s mother.
Those are on the “nostalgia” tree.
Sievert’s daughter Michelle Marshall said she started collecting miniatures as a kid and has a penchant for collectibles.
“Once I started, I could not stop,” she said in a phone interview.
She’s a grown-up woman now with two kids of her own. She has 10 well-loaded Christmas trees in her own home on top of the 50 at her mother’s home.
“Will I ever have to stop collecting? Logically, I will have to,” she admitted.
“Every year we think there’s no room for more trees, but we always find the space.
“Eventually I’ll have to rotate stock I guess. But I don’t ever want to stop collecting.”
This tree has a Barbie theme and is surrounded by dolls dressed in high fashion. Similar Barbie ornaments adorn the tree. Photo by Joanne Shuttleworth
Sievert sets up the trees and puts on the lights. Marshall decorates the trees and sets out the other objects associated with the themed trees.
They started setting up trees in October and have been working steadily to be ready for the open house.
There’s a Barbie tree, with dozens of dolls in fashion garb on shelves and ledges around the tree in addition to the Barbie ornaments.
There’s a Harry Potter-themed tree, one for pets, Tinkerbell, Looney Toons cartoon characters, super heros, the Grinch, a travel tree … you get the picture.
Disney takes up lots of space in this home with a Disney princess-themed tree, one entirely devoted to Mickey Mouse memorabilia, another based on characters in Frozen, and many, many more.
Her husband died in 2023 and he collected baseball cards. So in his former office is a baseball tree, plus another tree “for all the other sports,” Sievert said.
The pool table becomes a North Pole village; the bay window in the front room features a village of shops; the angel tree makes Sievert think of her mother, whose nickname was Angel.
“I think we’ve reached the limit,” Sievert said. “Of course we said that two years ago too.”
Sievert typically invites friends and family to view the decorations but this will be the first time she’s inviting the broader community.
The crunch was on in mid-November to get the last of the trees installed.
Sievert and her husband bought the Belwood property decades ago and used it as a cottage until selling their Toronto home a few years ago and moving to Belwood for good.
She joined the curling club in 2019 and is pleased and proud to see so many young curlers at the Fergus club.
“The club is growing and the pipes (under the floor) are old,” she said, emphasizing the need for a new floor.
She invited some of her curling club friends to see the trees last year and they came up with the home tour idea.
Sievert said she’s happy to help the club and hopes her “little display” helps raise some funds.
The tour occurs on Dec. 14 and 15. To book a spot, call Karen at 519-400-3559 or email abcs4fcc@gmail.com.
Those who attend are asked to bring a bag to hold their shoes while they tour the home.
