Editor’s note: This is the fifth article in a series of five about the 3-8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, Tour of Homes, sponsored by the Cancer Assn. of Champaign County. Each article will feature one of the five homes on the tour. Pre-sale tickets are $10 at Urbana banks and credit unions. They will be available for $12 at each featured home during the tour.
Tour homes are the Bob and Tammy DelPico home at 445 E. Court St.; the Corey and Emily Huffman home at 227 W. Reynolds St.; the Mikola Neeld home at 217 E. Ward St.; the Gary and Shelly Reser home at 921 Bon Air Drive; and the John and Cindy Zugaro home at 945 Bon Air Drive.
For a chance to create a scene using the characters from the “Dennis the Menace” comic strip, purchase raffle tickets ($1 each, six for $5) during the tour. CACC board members also have tickets to sell. The winning ticket will be drawn during the Tour of Homes today at 8 p.m.
The residence of Mikola Neeld and her daughter, Olivia Maurice, reflects the early history of Urbana. The corner of East Ward Street and Kenton Streets marks the original north and east boundaries of the city. A historical marker in the open area marks the site as the Old Grave Yard, used as burial grounds from 1805 to 1856. The cemetery contains the remains of Simon Kenton’s 8-year-old daughter, several unidentified soldiers of the War of 1812, as well as Captain Arthur Thomas and his son who died at the hands of Native Americans in August 1813.
Pictures throughout the home were painted by family members in the 1970s and 1980s.
