As guests walked over the threshold of the Senator Walter Lowrie House for the Butler County Historical Society’s third annual Cookie Walk fundraiser on Saturday, Dec. 2, it seemed as though they had stepped through time.

The Victorian ambience was recaptured by evergreen garlands draped over doorways and across the dining room, cinnamon sticks peeking out of a Christmas tree and flickering electric candles. Fully decorated for Christmas, the Lowrie House, built by Butler’s only U.S. senator, could have been mistaken for a classic holiday film set – or a domestic setting in a Charles Dickens novel.

Inside, thousands of cookies awaited.

The event, which ran from 4 to 7 p.m., saw a line of visitors wrapped around the corner of West Diamond Street and down the block, historical society board vice president Brad Pflugh said.

Chris Leroy, a Butler resident who waited on the porch with other visitors before entering the building, said she had never before stepped foot in the historic house. She said she looked forward to seeing the home and the cookies for sale.

“I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t like,” Leroy said.

During the event, volunteers from Knoch High School and Butler County Community College greeted visitors, handed out cookies and played live music.

Molly Milich, a first year history major at BC3, greeted visitors outside the house.

She said Pflugh, who is her history professor, encouraged her and other students to attend. Pflugh has not only been on the board of the historical society for over 25 years, but he also teaches at BC3 and Knoch High School, where he oversees a history club.

“I really like American history,” Milich said. “I think having a little piece of it in our backyard is really interesting, because I feel like a lot of people from Butler don’t realize this house is nearly 200 years old.”

Milich also said she liked the Victorian feel of the home.

“Not only is (the home) a 200-year-old building, it just sits so centrally to downtown,” Pflugh said. “It’s just the perfect place for people to see what a Butler house was like. It was kept so well.”

Pflugh said events like the Cookie Walk fundraiser can inspire visitors to learn more about Butler’s history. Some guests might later want to become members of the Historical Society or delve into further research, he said.

“It’s easy to just drive down Main Street and think, oh, it’s a neat old town,” Pflugh said. “But actually, maybe someone doesn’t think they’re into history, but because they came in here to get cookies and see the decorations ... they start asking questions.”

The funds from the Cookie Walk support essential functions, such as keeping up with Lowrie House repairs.

“There’s always something that’s breaking down or needs fixed,” Pflugh said.

Last year, the fundraiser brought in about $2,800.

From orange cookies to snickerdoodles, Pflugh said the variety was baked by students’ families, volunteers and board members. The cookies were on display in the dining room, nursery, bedroom and primary suite of the home.

“I can tell you we ran out of the boxes that the cookies go in , and we had to shut down a room because we ran out of cookies,” he said.

To accommodate the large volume of guests, Pflugh said, 40 visitors were allowed in the Lowrie House at a time. Every time 10 people left, 10 more were ushered in.

“If we last an hour, we’re good,” he said. By 5:30 p.m., the cookie tables looked rather sparse.

The first year saw 275 dozen cookies sell out in 40 minutes, said Joyce Rauschenberger, board president. This year, the Lowrie House had over 300 dozen cookies for sale, she said.

With inflation driving up the costs of ingredients and expenses, the price of a box of cookies increased from $10 to $12.

“Our expenses go up; our utility bills, and so forth, go up, just like everyone at home, so we’re just trying to get the funds so we can do what we need,” she said.

She said the fundraiser is an opportunity for the public to come in and get a sneak peek of the historic home.

“Every year (turnout) seems to grow, which is exciting,” she said.

Rauschenberger described the architecture of the Lowrie House as “fantastic,“ and said the atmosphere calls to mind cozy, familial scenes.

“When you spend time in the Lowrie house, you definitely can feel the sense of family and just how many family events took place, how many family dinners were held, how many Christmases were celebrated here,” she said. “You can kind of let your imagination run — the family sitting around the Christmas tree that may have been in the parlor; maybe they’re listening to their daughter playing the piano, or, you know, reading poems.”

When it comes to picking favorite cookies, Rauschenberger said she is torn between orange cookies, snickerdoodles and peanut butter blossoms, while Pflugh stuck with chocolate chip.

“All these other things are, they’re just dessert. (Chocolate chip cookies) are the meal,” he said.

As the cookie supply dwindled, two BC3 students continued to sing Christmas classics for the duration of the event.

Jack Iole, a second-year communications student, played the tambourine and sang along with Sadi Shearer, a first-year history student who performed with her guitar.

Iole said he was struck by the beauty of the historic home.

“Stepping through the door, it’s kind of like going back in time,” he said.

“The way it was kept looks like when it was in its prime,” Shearer said.