Gingerbread houses and winter fun |
December weekends are often packed with free, seasonal activities. Saturday, December 7, 2002 was a good example. Our family had to choose between an open house at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, museum (including tours of the curators’ labs and children’s crafts); an open house at Creamer’s Field Migratory Bird Refuge (held in the cozy, old farmhouse, with make-your-own ornaments for the kids); the annual gingerbread house building contest, sponsored by our local paper, the Daily News-Miner; and the womens’ Christmas party at our church. All of these events were free, child-friendly, and a great way to get out of the house and stave off cabin fever.
We chose the gingerbread house contest for the morning, and I went to the church Christmas party in the afternoon. I just wish that we could have done everything, but our kids are too young to pack that much into one day.
The gingerbread house contest was held at the Carlson Center, which also hosts pretty much all of the major concerts in town, as well as many sporting events. The contest had several categories, including children, children’s groups, youth, adult, and any-age groups. The judging is done by the public, with a committee from the paper choosing the overall champion. I would have a difficult time choosing between some of these entries. My husband, my father-in-law and I all voted, and I think that we each chose different winners for each category. The entries were diverse, and each had its own charm.
For example, one of the adult entries was this wonderful version of King Island as it looked about 50 years ago. I have read the old article in National Geographic that was written by Rie Munoz and her husband, who worked as teachers one winter on King Island, so I recognized and appreciated the skill and care taken to reproduce it here. Anyone interested in Alaska Native culture would be fascinated by the story of King Island. Rie Munoz also wrote A King Island Christmas (the maker of this entry had the book on display), which may be easier to find than the old magazine article, for those interested.
Another re-creation of a real place was this gingerbread Chartres Cathedral. The makers had included a photo of the real thing for comparison. I liked the way that they lit the interior to show the “stained glass” windows.
One of the children’s groups did The Little Engine that Could. I really liked this one, in part because I enjoy reading this book to my children.
Another children’s group entry was this cute igloo. I liked the clever use of marshmallows here. The green lawn struck me as kind of funny. I liked it.
This adult entry showed as much work and skill as any there, and the attention to detail was amazing. The trees alone were, I thought, the best ones in the contest. Everthing in here was edible, even the cars. Licorice ropes on the swings, how cool!
Another great adult entry. Having gingerbread people making little gingerbread houses was a cute idea, and there was some really clever use of materials. The tablecloth and floorboards are made of fruit leather, and the electric stove elements are coils of licorice. Check out the white-frosted dog about to steal some gingerbread off the table.
We all had a good time, although we had to watch our 2-year-old to make sure that he didn’t try to taste test the entries. There really are plenty of fun, family-oriented things to do in Fairbanks this time of year.
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