Ivory Homes Gingerbread Contest Offers a $1,000 Prize
If you’re a creative, crafty type, you might want to enter Ivory Homes’ 4th Annual Gingerbread Contest. The grand prize is $1,000 — a lot of dough that’s more fun to spend than to eat. In addition, the company gives a $1,000 donation to the winner’s choice of charity.
All the gingerbread entries will be displayed at the company’s festival Dec. 14, at the Ivory Homes Garden Park clubhouse in South Jordan’s Daybreak community. The public can come and vote for their favorite gingerbread house, participate in a family scavenger hunt, decorate sugar cookies and take photos with Santa. Cost to attend the festival is $5 for adults and $3 for kids age 12 and under, with the funds raised going to the Guadalupe Center.
” We decided to create a fun event that would draw a crowd and also help raise money for charities,” said Jim Dunford, Ivory’s marketing manager. “We select an organization that will benefit each year — the Food bank, United Way and this year, the Guadalupe Center.”
It also showcases the sweeter side of Ivory homes, since all the entries need to be modeled after an Ivory home plan. But, there are over 200 designs, so that shouldn’t be too confining.
Although I’ve not attended this particular festival, I’ve seen other local gingerbread events and have marveled at the workmanship that goes into them. For me, I’m lucky if I can just get the walls to keep from caving in, much less worry about making glass-like windows from melted Jolly Ranchers, or street lights from candy canes and colorful roofs with M & Ms and Red Hots.
Those who want to enter can register at http://form.jotformpro.com/
The building materials of the house must be 100 percent edible, although the base can be of wood or another sturdy material. The only lighting allowed in the house must be battery-operated.
You will need to transport your house in your own vehicle, and the house needs to be sized to fit through a standard door.
Dunford said the majority of the entries can sit on a 2-foot-by-2-foot board.
“When you think of conventional gingerbread homes, that’s what most people do,” he said. “Fourteen to 20 inches wide in the front would likely be common.”
But, that doesn’t mean you have to stick with what other people are doing.
Last year, the festival had 15 entries, and Dunford hopes to see more this year.
“The number of entries has gone down a little bit as the competition and the attending crowds have skyrocketed,” he said. “It’s a little intimidating for some, but we’ve had novices that have never built a gingerbread house before win substantial prizes for themselves and their charities.”
Besides the grand prize of $1,000, there’s also a second place prize of $500 for the winner plus $500 for the winner’s choice of charity; and third place is $250 for the winner plus $250 for the winner’s charity. All the houses will be donated to benefit the Guadalupe Center.
Judging will be comprised of on-site festival voting, Facebook votes and a panel of judges with Ivory Homes. So you can drum up votes by getting friends to come to the festival on Dec. 14, or getting them to vote for you on Facebook.
Cost to attend the festival on Dec. 14 is $5 for adults and $3 for kids age 12 and under.
For more information and registration, go to http://blog.ivoryhomes.com/