×

Holiday contest winners selected

PARKERSBURG – Winners were announced in two yuletide contests in Parkersburg and Belpre on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, winners were announced in seven categories of the Gingerbread House Contest sponsored by First Neighborhood Bank at the Blennerhassett Hotel in downtown Parkersburg.

This year’s contest attracted 60 pastry creations and the winners took part of a $7,00 purse of prizes. Divisions for the contest were professional, adult 21 and older, young adult 16-20, junior 11-15, child 10 and under, corporate and new division for schools.

The People’s Choice Award will be announced after the viewing ends on Dec. 20. Votes are cast by putting money into a house-shaped bank next to each gingerbread display at the Blennerhassett.

Cecil Childress, general manager of The Blennerhassett Hotel, said the houses are fascinating and fun.

“We start our season off at The Blennerhassett Hotel with the Easter Seals Festival of Trees and we realized when we do this the day all the trees go it looks like The Grinch moved in and stole Christmas,” he said. “The gingerbread houses are an opportunity to see something of Christmas and enjoy it.”

Childress said the houses bring large crowds to the hotel. Organizers try to find people to judge who have some level of understanding of art, or culinary arts. They also talked to people in the building trades since the creations are little houses, he said.

“We do not identify the judges.”

Julian Siefert. of Vienna, who won third place in the junior division, is a seventh-grader at Jackson Middle School. He said he got interested in building the houses just to have fun.

“I thought it would be fun and I wanted to see what it was like,” he said.

Mineral Wells resident Rachel Schaffer, winner of the adult division, said she has made the houses with friends in the past.

“My friends and I get together and do this every year,” she said. “I decided I would try to do it on my own for a contest. I had a lot of moral support and help.”

Her gingerbread house was what she called a Piggy Christmas.

Also on Saturday, the winners of the first Belpre Outdoor Home Decorating Contest sponsored by the Belpre Woman’s club were announced at the Belpre Senior Citizens Center in Howes Grove Park. Prizes were given for first, second and third place and two honorable mentions.

The fundraiser finances the club’s medical scholarship and the club recently gave $2,000 to Belpre High School for bleachers and new band uniforms.

Sharon Lewgood, a member of the Belpre Woman’s Club, said they had 40 home owners sign up for their first outdoor decorating contest.

Sandy Fuller, president of the Belpre Woman’s Club, said anyone living in the contest area of Blennerhassett Avenue, Walnut, Brentwood, Pennsylvania and Ashberry streets, were not required to be part of the contest. Each participating home owner paid a $5 entry fee.

Fuller said in the past they had a contest for indoor decorating but they were having trouble getting people to participate so they decided to for outdoor decorating.

Participating houses are marked with tinseled signs in the front yards.

Fuller said a different area of Belpre will be used for the contest next year.

“We’re going to out and look around and see what areas have many decorated homes and make our decision then,” she said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today