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By Paula Pyzik Scott

If you timed it just right, during the Christmas Open House at the Schumacher Homestead, 8350 Bixel Rd., you could see the Swiss Community Historical Society's grounds, farmhouse and Heritage Center by moonlight and candlelight. 

Throughout the two-day event on December 7-8 there were treats for your tastebuds in the summer kitchen and treats for your ears in the stove room (parlor), as well as docents throughout the facilities to tell you all about the Schumacher family and others in the Swiss Settlement during the 19th century. There were also treats for your nose: on arriving you could smell wood smoke from two fireplaces. The Heritage Center, which will soon have its wood floors finished, provided the fresh scent of new lumber.

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