UPCOMING HOME TOURS
Mark your calendars for these upcoming home tours:
• The 19th annual Jewels on the Bay designer showhouse will run from Jan. 19 through Feb. 16 in Sarasota. Designers will display their talents in the bayfront mansion at 2145 Alameda Ave. (see photo) in Sarasota’s Indian Beach neighborhood. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and noon to 4 Sundays. Tickets are $25. Information is at www.DesignerShowhouseSarasota.com.
• The 21st Annual Anna Maria Island Tour of Homes is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 15. Tickets are $20. The tour will include select properties in Holmes Beach. Original arts and crafts, “culinary delights,” and a handmade quilt created by the Eyeland Needlers will be sold from The Boutique.
Proceeds benefit the Anna Maria Island Community Center, which serves more than 5,000 children, families and seniors with programs and services. Information: Sandee Pruett, 941-778-1908, ext. 0.
RADON GAS IS SEEN AS A RESIDENTIAL LUNG-CANCER THREAT
As a group, editors mostly ignore commemorative months. “National Raspberry Month.” “Hangnail Awareness Month.” “Functional Dyspepsia Recovery Month.” Those kinds of stories, invented by public relations pros, rarely make the newspaper.
Today, we will make an exception. January is National Radon Action Month, as proclaimed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
This is no joke. Radon can seep from the ground into residential structures and cause lung cancer.
The EPA and health agencies across the country are promoting awareness and prevention against the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers. The American Lung Association, Centers for Disease Control, and National Cancer Institute agree that radon is a national health problem and encourage home radon testing.
Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible and odorless radioactive gas. One in 15 American homes contains high levels of radon. Millions of Americans are unknowingly exposed to this dangerous gas. In fact, a recent study by Harvard University ranks radon as America’s No. 1 in-home hazard. Testing your home for radon and making necessary fixes is relatively easy.
Radon gas is not isolated to certain geographical areas or home types. Radon problems have been detected in homes in every county of the U.S. It caused more American fatalities last year than carbon monoxide, fires and handguns combined. If a home hasn’t been tested for radon in the past two years, EPA and the Surgeon General urge you to take action. Contact your state radon office for information on locating qualified test kits or qualified radon testers.
The federal commitment will focus efforts on radon reduction and mitigation in homes, especially those of low-income families, many of whom do not have the resources to make the simple fixes necessary. Information: www.RadonMonth.org.
REAL ESTATE is edited by Harold Bubil (Harold.Bubil@heraldtribune.com; 941-361-4805), with the assistance of page designer and copy editor Terry Galvin (Terry.Galvin@heraldtribune.com).
