December 7, 2003
Albany- Hundreds of people are awestruck as they walk through the Bridges west Albany home - a 34 year old house the family has made their own.
"We re-did the house about a year ago and Elizabeth came in here and pretty much did it how she wanted to. She knocked some walls out and we re-did the bathroom, re-did our master bedroom," says homeowner Louis Bridges.
"We busted the tile out and we stripped the wallpaper ourselves," his wife Elizabeth adds.
"We just kind of made it our home," says Louis.
Now they've opened it up for the whole public to view.
Hostesses at their home act as mini-tour guides.
"We greet at the door, and show certain things in the rooms that people might be interested in," says hostess Faye Montague.
"My favorite thing is just to see the Christmas decorations and what everybody else can do with the same basic theme, but some people come up with such beautiful things they're always different," says hostess Fannie Brown.
Each year the American Heart Association chooses about a half dozen homeowners who agree to open their homes during the holiday season.
This year they even got Lt. Governor Mark Taylor's sister, Linda Kay, to share her home.
Those who go on the tour not only get to look at how each family has decorated, but they also help save lives because the proceeds go to American Heart Association.
"This is really the start of Christmas, and what I'm hearing with the seven homes this year that this is the biggest year we've ever had," admits Lou Johnson, of the American Heart Association.
While it may have been a huge undertaking to agree to have their homes under a microscope, the homeowners, like the Bridges, say their just glad to share their home and help save a life.
The American Heart Association sold more than five hundred tickets for this year's tour of homes, and hope to raise $10,000.
Posted at 6:00 PM by elaine.armstrong@walb.com
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