CHRISTMAS HOUSE EVENTS BENEFIT DRISCOLL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

The money we raised through events held at The Christmas House were dedicated to the memory of two special people.

Our mother, Alice LeFern Howard Minten
(1905-1995)
Her sister, Margarett Elizabeth Howard
(1904-1918)

Shelley Anne Siemonsma
(1980-1998)

One is our aunt we never knew. Her name was Margarett (pronounced Marguerite) Elizabeth Howard. She died in 1918 as the result of a heart condition. She was just 14 years old. Our mother was 13 when she lost her beloved big sister. Our mom knew that her sister had heart problems, but she never knew the diagnosis. Even though we never met her, our mother's stories about their childhoods in Iowa, made her very real to us.

In 2006, eleven years after our mother's death, we visited the Mahaska County Courthouse in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where we were able to see Margarett's death certificate that is filed there. It simply stated that the cause of her death was Mitral Valve Prolapse! They were able to diagnose the heart condition, but in those days, they could do nothing for it. Mother always said that "they just tried to make her comfortable towards the end." How sad, but Praise God that children aren't given a death sentence with a diagnosis like that anymore!! In fact, that diagnosis is very rare today

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We also honor the memory of our cousin who was 18 when she lost her life to a heart condition. Shelley Siemonsma was our first cousin twice removed. Her great-grandmother, Teekela (Tillie) Minten Boerjan (1889-1953), was our dad's older sister. Her paternal grandmother, Lodevica Boerjan Siemonsma (1912-2003),  was our first cousin! Her parents are David and Deborah Siemonsma.

Shelley was born with a serious heart defect in 1980 and was not expected to live more than two years. However, thanks to Dr. James Simpson and Driscoll Children's Hospital, she lived to be 18. Even though she passed away in 1998, her friends and everyone in our family still miss her and her wonderful attitude towards life. She was an inspiration to everyone who knew her!

We chose to benefit cardiology care at Driscoll in 1982, because Dr. Simpson was Shelley's doctor, and we knew of the wonderful care given to South Texas children who have heart problems. Since our mother had lost her sister to a heart condition many years before, and because Shelley was receiving wonderful care at Driscoll at the hands of Dr. Simpson and the skilled cardiology department staff, it made sense to our family to make our Christmas Open Houses count for something that would do good. And who better to help at Christmas than children in South Texas.

We actually began this in 1982, several years before we opened our home to the public and began calling it The Christmas House. We had been having Christmas open houses since 1976, and by 1981, more than 600 invited family and friends were attending them during the holidays. We opened for public tours as The Christmas House in 1986.

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(L-R)
Seated: John Hyde, Dorothy Minten
Standing: Janie and Esther Minten, Martha Avery, Richard Harris

We met with members of the Driscoll Foundation at The Corpus Christi Yacht Club on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, for lunch and to present the contributions that we raised during our 2018 Christmas Season (October, 2018-June, 2019). Here we are pictured making the presentation of a grand total of $10, 650.00.

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The total amount that we raised each year was from several different sources related to the tours we conducted of The Christmas House.

1.) We gave $1.00 out of each paid admission fee.

2.) The three of us personally gave $2.00 (we share that amount) for each non-paying guest. (Non-paying guests included our family, our friends, La Gloria School children and staff, and paying guests who returned for a subsequent tour(s) during the same season.)

3.) In addition to this, we each made our own personal annual donation to DCH which was included in the total.

4.)Many of our family and friends made donations to Driscoll Children's Hospital in lieu of the admission fee. (We didn't ask them to do this, but certainly never refused a donation.) Sometimes we got a check in the mail made out to DCH from someone (family, friend, or even a past guest) just because they didn't get to come see The Christmas House during the current season!

5.) The Organ Fund, started as a joke by a guest in January of 1993, has proven to be the most fun! Many guests who return each year always had their donation ready to put on the antique pump organ. Many who came for the first time followed suit and added a donation along with everyone else's. The Organ Fund did give Janie an opportunity to share with our guests about Driscoll Children's Hospital and all that they do for the children of South Texas. (Scroll down for the story of how it was started and why it continued.)

6.) Included in this contribution were donations made family and friends in honor of Janie on the occasion of her 75th birthday in February, 2019.

We would like to once again thank everyone who mades this possible throughout the years. If all you did was attend a tour of the Christmas House as a paying guest, then $1.00 of your admission fee went to DCH. If you were a non-paying guest for a tour or a party/open house, you made a $2.00 donation from us possible. Perhaps while you were touring the house, you left a donation on the antique pump organ. Some customers at Santa's Texas Workshop tell us to keep their change for Driscoll.

The La Gloria School children made amazing contributions. We thank their parents for caring enough to send donations for the Organ Fund with their children each year. However, they also brought spending money for the store, and often had change coming. You can't imagine how often we heard a child say, "Give my change to the sick children." 💛

Your visits to The Christmas House made all of this possible! We couldn't have done it without you!  We also thank our family and friends who made donations above and beyond what you needed to do! God bless all of you.

(This article recounts the results of our 2018 Christmas season. We did have one last season for Christmas 2019 that ended suddenly due to Covid 19 Restrictions on March 12, 2020.

I will update the info about how much we raised for Driscoll Children's Hospital.

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BENEFITING DRISCOLL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

THROUGH THE YEARS

The three of us would like to thank all of you who came to tour The Christmas House this past season. Because of you, we were able to raise money for Driscoll Children’s Hospital for another year, and we truly appreciate it. The money we raise is restricted, at our request, to The Dorothy, Esther, and Janie Minten Endowment for Cardiology in memory of Dr. James W. Simpson. It will never be used for any purpose other than to help South Texas children who have heart problems. (The story that tells why is above.)

The money that we raise includes The Organ Fund (the story of how it started and how it continues is on our blog), $1.00 from each admission fee, $2.00 from the three of us for each non-paying guest, donations from family and friends, and our personal contributions. 

Including all the ways enumerated above that we raise money for Driscoll, this past season’s total was $10,650.00. The grand total through the years has been $360,025.00.

During the 2018 season, our guests donated a total of $2898.69 on the antique pump organ. That brings the grand total for just the Organ Fund to $91,590.46 since it was started as a joke in January of 1993.

Friends and family donated $1,037.00 to Driscoll in honor of Janie on the occasion of her 75^th birthday.

We hosted 92 events during the 2018 season. Through the years, we have hosted a grand total of 6,345 events at The Christmas House.

A total of 861 guests visited The Christmas House during the 2018 Season. This included 186 non-paying guests and 675 who paid. We have hosted and entertained a grand total of 80,826 guests during the years.

To borrow a sentence from The Driscoll Foundation: “We are thankful for donors like you who understand the importance of caring for the children of today who will be the adults of tomorrow.”

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THE STORY OF THE ORGAN FUND

One of our most cherished traditions at The Christmas House is The Organ Fund. It was started as a joke in January of 1993 and continues to this present day. 

A group from McAllen arrived for their tour on that January day. As they were finished in the "Hall of Doors," the first room that you enter upon coming in to the house, they were moving into the family room and out to the "Office." One of the ladies, who had never been here before, stopped as she went through the door into the family room. Dorothy was standing there, so the lady looked at her and exclaimed, "Oh, look at that antique pump organ. Who plays it?" 

Dorothy answered, "I do!"

"Oh, would you please play it for us?" This lady had no idea that Dorothy's playing the organ later on was a regular part of the tour!

Without blinking an eye, Dorothy said, "Sure, for a nickel!"

Well, the lady was a little taken aback and looked at Dorothy in a funny way.  Dorothy quickly assured her that she was joking and said that she always plays the organ for each group that tours the house, so they would all get to hear it!

The tour continued and not another word was mentioned about the nickel. Dorothy played Silent Night as they all sang at the end of the program, which included our singing and Esther telling a story. Refreshments were served and finally the group ended up in the formal living room where every tour we've ever done ends. 

As all of the guests were leaving the house to go to the store, Dorothy was standing there to make sure they all found the correct door to exit. That lady waited to be last and walked up to Dorothy with her hand in her pocket. She stopped, looked at Dorothy and pulled a nickel out of her pocket. She said, "Here's the nickel. Thank you for playing the pump organ for us!"

Dorothy said, "But I was joking about the nickel! I don't want it."

The lady said, "I know you were joking, but I've thought about it during the whole tour, and I'd like to carry the joke on. I want you to put this nickel on the organ that you play (we have two antique pump organs) and just leave it there to see what might happen!" She was thinking that other guests might "tip" the organist if there was a nickel there to start it!

Dorothy replied, "Oh, no! I couldn't do that!" 

However, the lady was very insistent and wouldn't leave to follow the other guests to the store. Dorothy needed to get to the store, too. So, finally, Dorothy said, "Okay! You can go back with me into the room where the organ is and put the nickel there yourself." 

They walked to the organ and the lady placed it where people could see it. Then she told Dorothy that she had to leave the nickel there. Dorothy promised her that the nickel would stay right there for the next 2.5 months, and then at the end of the season she would put the nickel in with donations to Driscoll Children's Hospital that family and friends left in a basket by the guest book when they attended parties and open houses to which we invited them. Dorothy assured her that the nickel would go to DCH.

So, that's what we did! The nickel stayed on the organ and became a conversation piece. When asked, we would explain the nickel's presence on the organ and what it's fate was going to be! Thinking to carry on the joke and help out DCH, other guests left donations. By the end of that 2.5 months that remained in the tour season that year, there was $66.55 in donations! Every bit of it was given to Driscoll. However, it was not just added to the other donations. We actually got a cashier's check from the bank for that amount and gave it separately, telling the story of The Organ Fund!

That summer as Janie was writing the articles for the printed newsletter that we mail out, she decided to tell the story of what had happened! The nickel and the other organ donations were gone, but it was something that we would never forget! That article about The Organ Fund (so named by another regular guest who came with a group before we closed in March) was in the 1993 Santa's Texas Newsletter.

Back in those days we had a group that came for the first tour every year! The two women who made the reservations for the group had come the first year that we were open-1986. Then, we didn't see them in 1987, but they returned bringing some of their family and friends with them in 1988.  The next year, 1989, they asked if they could reserve the very first tour. From that time on, that core group didn't miss a year until 2018, always doing the first tour, and eventually doing the last tour of the season, also! It didn't take long for them to become some of our most wonderful friends! Unfortunately, two of the senior members of the group passed away and the daughters and grandchildren just couldn't bear the memories of all those "first tours." So, we started out with another group in 2018, and they came at the end of the season.

When they came for the first tour in 1993, everything went off like clockwork. Well, it was the first tour, so there may have been a few glitches, but that was always part of the fun! Nothing was said about a nickel on the organ. It was the third group that season, a group of 6 ladies from Rockport, who brought up the subject. One of them asked where the  nickel and the money was that they had read about in the newsletter. Dorothy told them it was just a joke and we weren't doing it "this year." They had each brought some money for the organ, so they decided to start it all over again, and the six of them left $5.95.

By the end of the season, the Organ Fund totaled $596.52. Wow!! That was wonderful. Again, we had a  cashier's check made and gave it separately with the other money being given! Janie wrote another article for the 1994 printed and mailed newsletter. 

When the first group came, they didn't say a word. However, right after Dorothy played Silent Night, they all got up, line up, and began putting money on the organ! We asked what they were doing. They informed us that they had read the newsletter story about the lady and the original nickel the year before, but it had never crossed their minds to start it again! Then they read the most recent newsletter about the six Rockport ladies and how they had decided to carry on the Organ Fund. They told us that they were really chagrined that they had read the same article, but had not thought to start it at a the first tour in 1993. So, they had conspired and decided to start it for this new season. They also told us that it would be a traditional part of their first tour from then on. 

They were very faithful to carry on that tradition until the passing of two of the members of the group. We really didn't know if anyone else would start it, but we knew that we would not put any money on the organ. We had sworn in 1993 that one of us would never do that!

Our first group in 2018 came on the first Saturday in October. (The other group had always come for the first tour on the last Saturday in September.) Even though Dorothy no longer plays the organ, that group who has a standing reservation for that Saturday each year, started the Organ Fund. We were so relieved, but not really surprised, because they always leave generous donations!

This has been a long story, but I want to end with this. Since that lady (we have no idea who she was) left the nickel as a joke through the end of the last season, the Organ Fund has been responsible for a grand total of $91,590.46  for Driscoll Children's Hospital. God works in many mysterious ways!