Soft Christmas melodies wafted through the air to compete withthe fragrance of native and international greenery and flowers tohelp showcase six Brookhaven homes during the city’s first HolidayTour of Homes Saturday night.

Rita Rich, event chairwoman for the Brookhaven-Lincoln CountyChamber of Commerce, said turnout for the first Holiday Tour ofHomes was “absolutely fabulous. I’m delighted with the turnout wehad.”

The chamber had printed up 500 tickets for the event but founditself short on tickets very early in the evening.

“We ran out of tickets. We had to make up paper tickets earlyon,” she said.

Rich said in mid-event she could not estimate the number oftickets that would be sold because people “just keep comingin.”

Sonya Laishe, of Brookhaven, said she has been on many of thechamber’s spring tours and felt the holiday tour was muchbetter.

“I go on all the chamber’s tours and I think this was great,”she said. “(The spring tours) are good but I like to see the warmthof the holiday season in the homes. It kind of puts you in theChristmas spirit.”

Laishe said she intended to visit all six homes during thenight.

At the Beck and Angie Warren home, where the couple alsocelebrated their 12th wedding anniversary during the tour, BeckWarren said he was surprised by the steady flow of guests andpredicted more holiday tours in the future.

“In the first hour nearly 100 people had been through. It’s beentremendous,” he said. “I think this is something we’ll see everyyear. It’s a great way to kick off the season. We’re just glad tobe a part of it. It’s been a great experience for us.”

Beck Warren said decorating their home for the event had been acommunity project with many people calling and asking how theycould help prepare the home. They received a lot of help with thegreenery and decorations, he said.

Early in the evening, Don Doty also expressed some surprise atthe number of guests.

“Everyone’s been enjoying the tour and I think we’ll have a realgood turnout,” he said. “There’s been a lot of people herealready.”

Rich said it was too early to determine if a Holiday Tour ofHomes would continue because of the number of commitments peoplethat would need to volunteer already have during the holidayseason. It would be a chamber decision, she said.