Deadlines, dollars and details: There's plenty to pay attention to when you're the owner of one of the houses on the Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour. But according to several homeowners who in the past opened their houses for a good cause, the experience was so much more. And one they wouldn't hesitate to do again.

Looking beyond the hard work, there is the satisfaction of knowing you have contributed to your neighbors' wellbeing, said Home Tour veterans Beverly Turner of Moneta and Lea Larsen of Huddleston. Both women said they believed their contributions benefitted more people in the area than if they had written a check.

Lowell Skelton of Moneta chuckled when recalling wife Kathy's reaction when a phone call came asking them to open their home for the Tour. Several weeks before Tour representatives visited the couple in their home Kathy stated: "I would never let 3,000 people walk through my home."

The team asked them to consider participating and let them know in a couple of weeks if they would participate. Lowell, who's worked for years as a member of the traffic committe, was surprised when Kathy agreed on the spot, he said.

Lowell and several other former participants said being on the Tour encouraged them to finish work on their home in a more timely fashion than if they had been left to their own devices. Final work was finished on the Skelton's home in the early hours of the morning on the first day of the tour of their home. The landscaper pulled away within an hour of the first visitor. Skelton's advice to future Tour participants: "Don't wait until the last minute."

John and Mary Boyer of Huddleston received their phone call from a representative of the selection committee four months after they moved into their home. Mary Boyer was still spending nights on an air mattress when she agreed to allow her home to be on Tour, which was scheduled almost a year from that time. When offered the opportunity to exclude the downstairs level that opened onto the patio and pool, Boyer declined and promised the house would be completely done in time for the Tour.

She proved to be as good as her word.

Besides forcing homeowners to finish home work they had been putting off, the Tour has served as a catalyst for friendships.

Boyer picked up a new best friend in Larsen, who served as chief hostess in the Boyer home. The couples enjoy getting together for holidays and the Roanoke Symphony. In between, they've been known to share a plate or two of brownies,

Larsen serves as charity administrator on the Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour Board. Part of her responsibility is to select members for the charity selection committee. Larsen recently distributed applications for the 2009 tour to members of the committee. Applications for the following year are due even before the current year's tour.

Larsen brings a unique perspective, having been on both the giving and receiving end.

In addition to her ongoing role on the selection committee, she has served on the board of Lynchburg Daily Bread (one of the receiving charities), and has opened her home for the Tour as well.

"Charities from an area within an hour drive of the lake are available for funding because they have a proven record of assisting with the needs of the lake population," said Larsen, adding that each chosen charity is required to provide the chief hostess for their sponsored home and at least 50 percent of the workers at that home.

Turner, who said she put a little extra work into landscaping the spring before her home was included on the Tour, received an added benefit from participating.

"We made great friends as a result of the socialization around the tour," said Turner. "It would be difficult to move away from this area because of those friendships."

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