Watertown officials are trying to find a solution to concerns related to a fence built by Franklin Street resident Brett Belfield.

When I awoke this morning, a vision of white filled my head. There are no sugarplums. There are no stockings hung with care. There is no hall decked with holly, nor any mere sprig of mistletoe. In fact, after a month filled with decorating for other buildings, our own home holds one creamy white poinsettia inside.

It is alright. The vision this morning was of the tree which some of our Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club members prepared for the King home, also known as the mansion, at Kingwood Center Gardens in Mansfield.

The overall theme of “Light Up the Night” had been selected a year ago. There is a reason organizers try to stay ahead of the holiday game. The whole effort has been going on for years because Mr. King loved Christmas. And now, the many garden clubs and volunteers have their favorite rooms and areas to decorate. A few decorating teams want their favorite room. The theme for the next year is thrown out early and grabbing begins. While they are decorating this year, some of the groups are talking about the following year. The first come, first served notion directs this planning.

In two time periods we made ornaments, and then did the actual decorating. For lighting up the night, my thought was to use totally white, shimmery things. Sparkling surfaces of snowy ornaments and glass and reflective items could bring a glow to nighttime. When our team came together, the bin holding many white ornaments brought sparkling deer and butterfly ornaments. A trip to a re-store netted several white and silver bulbs, and a wreath of long clustered strands of icy white. This was pulled apart by Cheryl Corney making many clusters that would be tucked into the boughs. Susan Kalb sat and painted glue, white snow, and set sequins into a couple dozen used ornaments, bringing new life to each one.

We took netted glistening white bows off the wreaths from the Bucyrus Historical Society display from last year and retied them into smaller bows for the tree.

When it came time to start the decorating, June Gebhardt and I made the trip over to the assembly room with our white heap of ornaments. The fraser fir stood 7-feet-tall. Other groups had already started the decorating, but only one was done. Beside us a team of Kingwood volunteers was busy making that end of the room resemble a living room complete with a Santa relaxing in a chair. They had made several trips to the Kingwood attic for signs, stockings, packages, ornaments — anything. The tree beside ours had hot pink feathered boas and others just had boxes beside the tree as if they would be back soon to finish.

We agreed that our 10 strands of light bulbs needed to be tucked in as we rounded the tree. This would add reflective qualities later. Our stars, and snowflakes, the small bows, deer, butterflies, big gobs of icicles on long twigs, sparkling white icicles, snowballs and the refurbished ornaments really came together. Simple and bright enough to light up the night.

Did I mention that other trees had a heap of gifts below them? At that point, June and I made a trip to the attic and found three bags of pre-wrapped gifts. Oh, joy. There were plenty of white and silvery boxes for beneath the tree.

Garden clubs and teams have transformed the rooms in the former King home. Even the kitchen is open for the holiday decorating. Then entry way is spectacular from a tree that reaches second floor and a banister loaded with ornamentation. The drawing room upstairs flows in pink and carries a wedding reception theme.

Open to visitors from now through the end of the year, the home is worth seeing inside. Throughout the grounds are multitudes of lights and decorations.

Visitation times are from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 30.

For details, visit  Kingwoodcenter.org/events/christmas-at-kingwood.

Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, is an accredited flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs and a former sixth-grade teacher.