Come Tuesday, Steamboat Landing will be aglow for Christmas Open House. For the 33rd year, the Ware River Circle of The King’s Daughters will decorate and serve gourmet foods at this French country gem which sits on the North River, Dixondale Wharf. This is where steamboats carrying passengers and cargos once landed and departed.

Owners Pat and Dick Zima will graciously open their doors to share with ticket holders the elegant yet comfortable interior of their home. The ladies of the circle will provide delightful morsels that will completely cover the dining room table. And there will be champagne or fruit punch to enhance your one, two, three, or maybe more visits to refill your plate.

The King’s Daughters is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote superior pediatric wellness through dedicated volunteerism in partnership with Children’s Health System. It is the founding organization of Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. It took many years for the realization of this hospital. In 1896 a group of women in Norfolk signed on to become the first King’s Daughters Circle. Their motto: "Look up, not down; Look forward, not back; Look out, not in; Lend a Hand." Today The King’s Daughters have 47 circles. The Ware River ladies are among these 47.

Today this circle, which began the same year, 1896, as the first organized chapter in Norfolk, has 85 paid members including two "sons." Last year’s Christmas Open House netted $12,000 for the hospital and $2,000 for Ronald McDonald House. Wanda Friend, president and chairman of Christmas Open House, is hoping for, a much higher total in receipts when the doors at Steamboat Landing close at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

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