Holidays in the Manor House returns with a park theme

Up to 40,000 people are expected to tour the mansion at Wildwood Preserve Metropark during this year’s extended Holidays in the Manor House celebration.

Free and open to the public, the 43rd annual event runs through Sunday, December 16, and is open each day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Wednesday, December 5 only, the house will close at 3 p.m.

Holidays in the Manor House has been volunteer driven since the earliest days of Wildwood. Not only do volunteers decorate the 30,000-square-foot house, but they also serve as stationary guides, welcoming and directing visitors on the self-guided tour of 32 displays. Others help with stoking the fires and supplying visitors with the cookies and marshmallows to make s’mores at the welcome tent.

Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to call 419-407-9703.

Decorating the mansion begins almost a year in advance when decorators submit proposals for displays to a committee, which makes the final selection. This year, decorators were asked to incorporate a Metroparks theme into each display.

Visitors can stroll a lighted path leading from the Manor House to the boardwalk, and through the decorated Shipman Garden.

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