The week of Thanksgiving usually means a trip to the attic for Jeanette Pombo-Marcucci. She dusts off her boxes labeled, “Christmas decorations,” and goes to work.

This year, though, she’ll place each ornament with a little extra care. Pombo-Marcucci’s home in central Tracy will be one of five in the fourth annual McHenry House Holiday Home Tour next weekend.

“I’ll go a little bit more over the top this year,” she said.

Pombo-Marcucci plans to decorate in the tradition of her western-style home, with bright greens and reds and an old-fashioned Santa Claus.

Janis Rainey’s extravagantly decorated home stands out among those of her neighbors. Wreaths hang in each window of her southeast Tracy home, and the interior is decorated with deep reds, golds and purples.

“I’m a little pickier this year,” Rainey said of her selection of decor.

The tour will begin at the McHenry House Family Shelter on Dec. 3, where people will receive a map to each of the five homes. Each home will have a raffle prize and desserts, and hors d’oeuvres will also be served.

About 300 people admired the extravagantly decorated homes last year that raised $6,000.

McHenry House Director Judith Odegaard said she hopes this year’s tour will draw 400 people and raise at least $15,000. “The community was so good to us with the Kids in the Box fundraiser, and I hope they’re willing to be good to us again.”

She added that she would like to see some of Tracy’s newest residents at the event.

The McHenry House, which shelters homeless families, uses the money to pay electric bills, a mortgage, seven staff members and to buy groceries. Or, as Odegaard put it, to buy “just about anything you can think of in the normal running of a house.”

To contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy, call 830-4280 or e-mail danielle@tracypress.com.