Below the Hormel Historic Home, a large storage room filled to the brim with Christmas decorations will soon see the light of day and welcome the holiday spirit.

Boxes upon boxes of Christmas tree ornaments, trees and garlands are organized by color and size. There’s little trinkets scattered here and there, but each part plays a role in the annual decorating. For Kim Guzman, this was her absolute favorite time of year: preparing the Hormel Historic Home for Christmas.

“It’s just a grand home,” Guzman said. “When we started, not even a fraction of the house was decorated. This place is like a grand old lady that needs her jewelry for Christmas.”

For six years, Guzman had been decorating the Hormel Historic Home with strong roots in tradition. She first became hooked after decorating the home’s main staircase for her daughter’s wedding and has since been the ring leader in rallying her three “elves”  to bring some cheer to the employees and the Austin community.

“We get together,” she said. “We start from the top and work our way down. My goal is to have a tree in every room of the Hormel Historic Home. I’m a Christmas decorating enthusiast and I’ve always been that way. I lead two others to help me decorate. We craft something every year.”

Each Christmas, Guzman would rally her “elves” and spend several weekends decorating the home with festive flourishes and Christmas trees that reach the ceilings, and are adorned with ornaments that indicate a theme, and there’d be centerpieces and tablescapes.

The decorations that the Hormel Home curated over the years were mostly from donations or handmade by the volunteers who come together. Guzman revealed that many of those decorations that guests can see inside the Hormel Home is from Pat and Gary Ray.

Despite having thrown out eight Christmas trees from old age, there’s still quite a number left for decorating the halls, according to Guzman. No stone is left unturned, and there’s a guarantee that there’s a festive touch somewhere inside the Hormel Historic Home. Decorating starts on Halloween, and that’s when the magic begins.

“When I walk into any house, there’s family and friends and the house is decorated for Christmas,” Guzman said. “Christmas is definitely my thing. I love the memories.”

Before Guzman took the reins in decorating, the Hormel Historic Home used to be decorated by vendors from around town who’d showcase their wares in the 80s. There wasn’t anything too extravagant, according to Holly Johnson, executive director of the Hormel Historic Home. By the time the vendors packed up, there’d be a scramble to get decorations up for the holidays, she said.

“It was a typical open house,” Johnson shared. “It took a lot of commitment, and it would have to last throughout the season.”

Guzman said that before the house was decorated, visitors to the home had decreased. With her joining the crew, Guzman said there was a “dramatic difference” along with several holiday events planned through the home such as “Soup and Santa” which draws “hundreds of people.”

“The walk-ins increased even more so,” she said. “It’s been a huge success, and we usually sell out. …We need to keep up with the times. Rochester has Mayowood, but we have the Hormel Home. I think our home should reflect that at Christmas. I think we’ve succeeded.”

However, what remains a mystery to this day, was exactly how the Hormel Family decorated for the holidays, Johnson said. Other than a few mentions from visiting family during Christmas, there weren’t any specific details on decor or anything that gave hint to the festive flair that the Hormels might have had.

“I have tried time and time again to find records of how the Hormels decorated their home,” she said. “Nothing was of interest. They may have done something that was of trend at the time.”

Guzman suggested that with the Hormels’ strong German heritage, it may have been possible that the family may have decorated based on cultural tradition such as nutcrackers, or possibly the traditional glass ornaments with history tracing back to the German town of Lauscha in the mid 1800’s, that were made with mercury or lead for luster finish.

Aside from creating festive displays of holiday spirit, what Guzman hopes guests will take away from those spaces are places to gather and to create warm memories that last a lifetime, and those memories continue to stay with them past the Christmas season.

“It’s always a wonderful time to be with the staff,” Guzman said. “When I was here for my daughter’s wedding, we spent the whole weekend there and the Hormel Home was so beautiful. It’s so beautiful. I love it. I really wanted decorating to be a Christmas tradition. For families to stop in to visit on Christmas.”

Senior Living – October 2018