by Noella Noelophile®
(Photo courtesy of Christmas in the Park, and used with permission.)
Every Christmas season, you’ll see them. Gingerbread churches, castles, cottages–sometimes even a village.
But what’s happening in San Jose this week, may just involve the best type of “gingerbread houses”–ever.
This Friday, November 21st, is the day when eight teams show up, in downtown San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez. They’re going to get to work with a zeal that would shame Santa’s elves.
Each team has just seven hours to build the best playhouse they can, in San Jose’s first-ever “Gingerbread Playhouse Competition”!
(Graphic courtesy of Christmas in the Park.)
Teams, comprised of employees from local businesses, have paid five thousand dollars each to participate. Habitat for Humanity has donated the building materials, and proceeds from entry fees get divided between them and San Jose’s nonprofit “Christmas in the Park“. (You’ll recall, from our earlier post, that “Christmas in the Park” is just about to stage its thirty-fifth celebration! Every year, they create an imaginative free-admission display which includes more than forty musical and animated exhibits, thousands of lights and a Community Giving Tree. Not surprisingly, their breathtaking displays and festive entertainment have become a San Jose Christmas tradition.)
(Photo courtesy of Christmas in the Park, and used with permission.)
Competitors are encouraged to be creative and go beyond, simply, painting their four-by-five-foot playhouses to look enchanting. When their seven hours are up, on Friday, their finished structures get placed on display as part of “Christmas in the Park”, which opens on November 28th.
And here’s where you come in…
…Your vote is requested.
Starting November 28th, voting is live at Christmas in the Park’s website, where you can see photographs of the eight completed gingerbread playhouses. You can vote for your favorite, with the winner to be announced on December 26th.
Christmas in the Park Executive Director Jason Minsky says he hopes the “Gingerbread Playhouse” competition will be the start of a new Christmas tradition. “The companies involved this year are really excited, and we cannot wait to see what they create,” he commented.
(Photo courtesy of SanJoseStock.com, and used with permission.)
So, what happens after December 26th? Well, that’s when the eight playhouses get auctioned off, as a fundraiser for both Habitat for Humanity and Christmas in the Park. And something else that could happen (if you’d like): you and your company could get involved in the fun, next year! For information on how to participate in the 2015 “Gingerbread Playhouse competition”, send an e-mail to info@christmasinthepark.com.
San Jose’s “Christmas in the Park” opens on Friday evening, November 28th at 5:30 pm with the lighting of the Community Giving Tree and the official arrival of Santa Claus. “Christmas in the Park” is open every day, including Christmas Day, from 9 am till midnight at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, located at 101 West Santa Clara Street, between North San Pedro and North Market. And while you’re there (or online if you can’t actually visit San Jose) be sure to vote for your favorite “Gingerbread Playhouse”, as they start their new Christmas tradition!