The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
BISBEE — For the past 25 years, Bisbee residents have opened their doors for the Bisbee Women’s Club annual Historic Home Tour.
The tour usually has good weather, but last year’s mini-blizzard put a dent into the philanthropic goals of the organization.
So, this year the nonprofit group has put out a 2009 calendar featuring the different home styles found in the old mining town that are on the tour, said Bobbe Hossman, a club member.
Hossman’s son, Rick, suggested that the club sell calendars as a back-up fundraiser.
|
|
“It sounded like a good idea to me,” Hossman said. “If we make more money, we can give more away to organizations that need it.”
The four nonprofits on the club’s gifting list are Border Animal Rescue, Verhelst Recovery House, Naco Wellness Center and Volunteer Interfaith Caregiver Program.
“These are organizations that don’t receive much funding,” Hossman added.
Border Animal Rescue assists abandoned cats and dogs and tries to find them good homes. Verhelst provides recovery services for men who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The Naco Wellness Center, run entirely by volunteers, provides health care for people on both sides of the border. VICAP is a gasoline fund that goes to volunteers who drive the disabled and elderly to doctors appointments, testing facilities and to pharmacies to get medicine.
“This money stays in Bisbee,” Hossman said. “We’re donating to the VICAP gas fund so that more volunteers will be able to afford the gas to take these people where they need to go. These aren’t on everybody’s charitable list, but we have supported them for a number of years.”
The hope is the calendars will raise an extra $6,000 to $7,000.
Hossman asked David MacDougal, photographer and real estate agent for Re/Max in Bisbee, to do the calendar.
“We knew he did calendars every year and he does such a beautiful job,” she said.
MacDougal was happy to take on the project.
“I wasn’t going to do one of my own this year even though I have done well with calendars,” he said. “But it was getting harder to manage every year, especially now that I no longer have a retail shop to promote my photography. I thought it was a great project.”
Usually he uses a 35 mm or a medium format camera using film, but this year he swapped them out for a digital. He had 10 homes across the districts of Bisbee to shoot, and for the most part things went smoothly taking only 20 or 30 minutes per home, he said.
One of the homes MacDougal shot took four visits to get the right lighting to capture the rugged wood tones, the tin roof and the mountainous backdrop.
The calendars can be found at various locations around Old Bisbee and cost just $10 each. They can be purchased at the Bisbee Visitor’s Center, the Bisbee Chamber of Commerce, Atalanta’s Bookstore and out of Hossman’s trunk. She has taken to carrying them around with her as word of the high-quality product gets around.
“if we can expand on our giving with profits from the calendars, we may continue the calendars in the future,” Hossman said. “We used local talent to put all this together and people who have bought the calendars have enjoyed them.
The calendars present a monsoon view of the homes with blooming flowers and lots of greenery. It presents a sharp contrast to the Christmas holiday motif that tour goers will see at the end of November. The Historic Home Tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 28 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 29, the same weekend as the kickoff of the holiday season in Bisbee. It is celebrated with a merry lighting ceremony and celebration in front of the Copper Queen Library in Old Bisbee on Friday evening.
To purchase the calendars, call the Chamber at 432-5421; the Visitor’s Center at 432-3554 or toll free at 1-866-BISBEE; Atalanta’s at 432-9976; or Hossman at 432-3146. For information on the Historic Home Tour, call the Visitor’s Center.
Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.
