14th Annual National Gingerbread Competition, 2006

While visiting Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina the day after Thanksgiving 2006, we stopped at the Grove Park Inn, a beautiful and massive historic property. There, we found on display winning entries of the 14th annual National Gingerbread House Competition. There were a record 400 entries (149 Youth, 73 Teen and 178 Adult). The grand prize winner was Patricia Howard of Winter Springs, Florida. First prize winners were Suzanne Smith (adult, Mulberry, Florida); Megan McBath, Kayla Tulloch and Marissa Summit (teen, Greenback, Tennessee); and Julie Navin (youth, St. Charles, Illinois). I only took a few quick pictures of some of the scores on display. From the entry form, it appears that the entries must be no bigger than 2 feet in each dimension; primarily made of gingerbread and be completely edible, except for the base; and judging is based on overall appearance, originality/creativity, difficulty, precision, and consistency of theme.