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BELPRE - How people choose to decorate for the holidays and what they want to highlight was the focus of a holiday home tour in Belpre on Sunday.

The Town & Country Belpre Christmas Tour, sponsored by the Belpre Women's Club, featured six stops in the Belpre area Sunday afternoon.

Each stop was decked out for the holidays with each home reflecting the tastes and personalities of the owners and how they choose to celebrate the season, organizers said.

"It is usually the personal taste of the owners on what goes into the decorations," said Charlotte Powell, secretary of the Belpre Historical Society.

Some people put out things they have gathered over the holidays for years, while others wanted to highlight specific things that are near and dear to them.

Jean Robinson, 503 Ridge St., Belpre, who was on the tour for the first time this year showed off her collection of dolls and items she has collected relating to "Gone With the Wind."

"I like most of the old antique stuff," she said.

Robinson was surprised when the tour organizers asked her to be a part of this year's tour.

"I was like, 'My house?'" she said. "Then I said 'OK.'

"I saw it as a privilege for me. It makes it nice to be able to bring people in and it helps people get into the Christmas mood."

Robinson said she had around 20 visitors during the first 90 minutes of the tour, which lasted for four hours Sunday afternoon.

"Many people have come in and said they liked how I decorated the house and how it looked," she said.

Powell said attendance has been on par with past events.

"We have had better weather this year," she said of the sunny skies Sunday, compared to the ice storm organizers had for last year's tour.

The tour also included the riverside home of Betty and Gene Hutchinson, 1309 Blennerhassett Ave.; Farmers Castle Museum and Education Center, 509 Ridge St.; Kids First day care center, 1901 Washington Blvd.; and Marion Metz's historic home at 1505 Putnam Howe Drive, all in Belpre. The home of Jeff and Stephanie Starcher, 65 Canterbury Court, near Oxbow at Vincent, was also on the tour this year.

Metz, who was one of the tour's organizers with the Belpre Women's Club, said they tried to get a variety of homes on the tour this year. Her home was last on the tour in 2005.

"I tried to get a house on the river, a small house that was cozy and cute, an old house and a great big new one," she said. "I got the three, but I didn't get the old house.

"I tried, but I was running out of time to get the tickets printed. I thought about my house, which is almost 200 years old, so I decided it was my year to show it again."

With the holiday season in full swing, Metz said the Women's Club has a lot of competition around the area with seasonal events and ticket sales were initially slow, but things picked up on Sunday.

"This is the way the Women's Club makes money for their medical scholarship they give out every year," she said. "Attendance has been pretty good, not great.

"Many people coming today have been to some of the other tours and said they like ours the best. That is what we like to hear."

Metz said her house was "filled with memories."

"It is full of stuff I have collected for the last 70 years," she said.

Her children have ended up buying her a lot of toys as she didn't have a lot of toys when she was growing up, having relied on her imagination and ingenuity.

"They thought I needed toys," Metz said. "When you go through the house you will see it is full of toys.

"They all have a story."

People who were out on the tour were out to see what people have done in their homes for the holidays while others were out looking for something to do in their own homes.

Earline Dye of Belpre first stopped at Metz's home Sunday.

"It is a little overwhelming and it is taking a bit longer than we thought," she said.

Dye and her family had decorated her own house and were out enjoying everyone else's hard work.

"I don't have this much to display," she said. "It is just stunning."

Pat Casper of Parkersburg was also at Metz's house Sunday.

"This house is worth the price of the tour," she said.

Organizers said the homeowners are the key to the success of the tour every year.

"How wonderful the residents of Belpre are to allow the public to come into their homes and share the spirit of Christmas with the community," said JoClaire Reece of the Belpre Women's Club.