1972 - Ronnie Ellis

Ronnie Ellis first moved into 517 North East Street in Oakwood in 1972.

To play an excerpt from Ronnie’s interview with Betsy Buford, press the play button. 

“Well, we needed money–attorneys’ fees–we were trying to get the word out that we were trying to save the neighborhood… so we started doing a Christmas tour in 1972. I was in the first tour. As I said, I had moved into my house in October of 1972, and had moved all the furniture on the back porch while I was refinishing my floors… I moved everything back in in 24 hours to get it ready for the tour. It was a busy time. This tour had never been done before and you would look outside and see someone moving a sofa, cause they didn’t have a sofa. They needed a living room set up for the tour. And it was very small. The first year, we made something like $400. The tickets were $2. The posters were handmade.

Being part of the first one was very exciting, not knowing how many people (would come). Then each year, growing and growing. Now they make thousands of dollars. I don’t know how much.”