Lewiston Tour of Homes and Christmas Walk to feature couple’s festive …
LEWISTON – Visitors to Lewiston for the Tour of Homes on Saturday and next Sunday will be welcome guests at five lavishly decorated homes, including one home that will take them beyond Lewiston – to the other side of the world.
The Lewiston Christmas Walk on Center Street, which is held in conjunction with the tour of homes, will also be a welcoming start to the holidays.
Jeanette “Jean” Gerlach, a retired school librarian and language arts teacher, is also a collector who lived and worked for years in Germany and Japan. She and her husband, John, will be sharing the holiday decorations they have collected from their life overseas.
“I’m so excited,” said Gerlach of the international theme for the tour of her house on Riverwalk Drive. “I used to decorate the library where I worked in Japan with greenery and red velvet bows. They really don’t do that. Japan really doesn’t celebrate Christmas – most are Shinto – but I had students from all over the world.”
Visitors to her home will certainly appreciate her eclectic holiday collection, which ranges from a Japanese step tansu cabinet where her angels and nutcrackers are displayed, her hand-carved German advent pyramid, Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls, Santa Claus and snowmen Kokeshi dolls and a creche from Oberammergau, home of the Passion Play in Germany.
She said her favorite is a Father Christmas tapestry.
Designer Theresa Lorenti chose the theme, “Through a Child’s Eye Around the World,” to showcase Gerlach’s collection.
“What I love about being a designer is