The holiday season means treats such as hot chocolate, candy canes, Christmas cookies and the infamous gingerbread houses. To bring about the festive mood with holiday food, Ohio University’s Catering Services, in collaboration with West 82 Food Court, held its annual gingerbread house contest today.
“The event began about 5 years ago,” said Eve Wharton, catering manager. “The idea was to make further use of the space that was available at West 82 Food Court during the winter break while providing a creative outlet for the Athens community and an activity that could bring various groups together during the break.”
Nine teams participated in the event this year, with group size ranging from four to eight people.
The event began at 8 a.m. and continued until 3 p.m. The houses were judged by an assembled panel of culinary service management staff. They judged the houses based on creativity and complexity, while also keeping an eye to make sure the number one rule was followed: Everything must be edible.
The Environmental Studies team placed first with “Christmas Island.” The Advancement Divas took home second place and the people’s choice award with a creation of College Green and Cutler Hall (pictured above). Third place went to Career Services with their “Holiday Cabin.”
The houses will be on display on the first floor of Baker until Wednesday afternoon.
“I stop by a few times usually to take photos and provide updates to our Facebook and Twitter followers,” said Carlos Samano, assistant director of auxiliary sales for OHIO Culinary Services. “Some of our community members are not on campus during the winter break but still want to know what is going on and enjoy seeing updates from the competition. This is a great activity for Ohio University members to come together and have some fun.”
