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Sweet creations
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Julionne DuBois, with Exit Rookstool Realtors, takes a close look at a gingerbread house made by the Cunningham and Nanneman families Tuesday during a contest at the Ross Ragland Theater. The sugary creation won best in show. |
Gingerbread house contest showcases imagination
By JILL AHO
H&N Staff Writer
Judges fought to keep their fingers out of the cookies, gumdrops and nuts Tuesday as they looked over decorated gingerbread houses and selected their favorites.
“They smell so good,” said Jerrie Reddell, one of several judges from the Klamath County Association of Realtors.
Everything, except the platform, must be edible in the fanciful creations, one of the only rules to the competition, which is part of the annual Snowflake Festival. Categories are based on age and the number of participants. The judges tried to imagine the amount of work each one had taken, looked for a variety of ingredients and most of all, creativity.
“It’s cute when you watch some of the kids bring them in,” said judge Julionne DuBois. She watched one entry in the intermediate category, which includes grades four through six, being brought in and was delighted with how the entrant rearranged his coconut snow. “You can tell he put all his little soul into it.”
Best in show
For Best in Show winner Julie Cunningham, the gingerbread competition brings the family together in a therapeutic way.
“The guys get into it because it’s a construction project,” she said. “You spend all that time together and laughing as things come out.”
Cunningham and her husband, Marlin, worked with her daughter Tonya Nanneman and Nanneman’s husband, Jared, and teenage daughters, Caitlin and Ariana Cunningham.
Using the theme
To go along with the Snowflake Festival’s theme of Silver Bells, the family thought of the song “Silver Bells” and built off the line, “It’s Christmas time in the city.”
Cunningham said the family spent about one week, eight hours a day, building the wintry street scene. And she didn’t even want to calculate the amount of money they might have spent.
The judges had the hardest time choosing a winner in the elementary category, which included grades one through three.
“I think this is the toughest category of all,” DuBois said.
A house made of pretzels stuck together with icing ended up the favorite, but another entry’s creative reindeer made from marshmallows and candy canes also stood out.
“They’re all good, that’s the hard part,” judge Lori Graves said.
Graves said community members should stop by the Ross Ragland Theater to see the contest entries, if not for the smell alone, because the creativity and intricacy is astounding.
“They smell so good,” said Jerrie Reddell, one of several judges from the Klamath County Association of Realtors.
Everything, except the platform, must be edible in the fanciful creations, one of the only rules to the competition, which is part of the annual Snowflake Festival. Categories are based on age and the number of participants. The judges tried to imagine the amount of work each one had taken, looked for a variety of ingredients and most of all, creativity.
“It’s cute when you watch some of the kids bring them in,” said judge Julionne DuBois. She watched one entry in the intermediate category, which includes grades four through six, being brought in and was delighted with how the entrant rearranged his coconut snow. “You can tell he put all his little soul into it.”
Best in show
For Best in Show winner Julie Cunningham, the gingerbread competition brings the family together in a therapeutic way.
“The guys get into it because it’s a construction project,” she said. “You spend all that time together and laughing as things come out.”
Cunningham and her husband, Marlin, worked with her daughter Tonya Nanneman and Nanneman’s husband, Jared, and teenage daughters, Caitlin and Ariana Cunningham.
Using the theme
To go along with the Snowflake Festival’s theme of Silver Bells, the family thought of the song “Silver Bells” and built off the line, “It’s Christmas time in the city.”
Cunningham said the family spent about one week, eight hours a day, building the wintry street scene. And she didn’t even want to calculate the amount of money they might have spent.
The judges had the hardest time choosing a winner in the elementary category, which included grades one through three.
“I think this is the toughest category of all,” DuBois said.
A house made of pretzels stuck together with icing ended up the favorite, but another entry’s creative reindeer made from marshmallows and candy canes also stood out.
“They’re all good, that’s the hard part,” judge Lori Graves said.
Graves said community members should stop by the Ross Ragland Theater to see the contest entries, if not for the smell alone, because the creativity and intricacy is astounding.
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