AROUND TOWN: A Gingerbread & Jazz tradition

For 17 years, the Tudor-style Historic Day Nursery just south of downtown has been turned into a giant gingerbread house outlined in white lights for the ever-popular Gingerbread & Jazz Gala Fundraiser.

It was success as usual on Nov. 12, when almost 300 people were on hand to stroll through the beautiful facility, sample delicious hors d’oeuvres and enjoy jazz in four rooms. Featured jazz bands included Brenda Miles & Friends, The Changing Times, Ken Miller Trio and Crissy Saalborn and Steve Draper and Wayne Wilkinson.

The Day Nursery, now part of the Early Connections Learning Centers and serving almost 500 children daily, was the vision of Alice Bemis Taylor, who saw it as a wondrous site built especially for children 88 years ago.

In one room, teams were hard at work building clever gingerbread houses to be judged and then auctioned off to lucky bidders. Teams were from Gotta Love It! Kitchen (top prize), First Presbyterian Church, Center for Creative Ladership and Chef Sugar’s Cakes & Confections. Two other colorful concoctions, by KKTV’s John Harding and Stacia Naquin, were also raffled off.

The event committee included Kelly Bren, Mary Beth Burichin, Sandi Dallas, Mike Finkbiner, Cheryl Harding, Lyn Hente, Sandy Jaray, Sarah McCartney, Jim McDonald, Cindy Morgan, Joan Mullens, Diane Price, Frank Rotunda, Bob Strobel, Trudy Taxman, Jacque Walsh and Karen Wiedemann.

An evening bright went a little like this: A law enforcement officer arrived at the Day Nursery to check out “a large group of people” at night when the center was closed. As he advanced toward the front door, two costumed gingerbread people jumped out to say hello. When his heart started beating again, he went inside to make certain everything was fine. Then, the difficult part: He had to convince a dispatcher that it was a legitimate gathering  and that, yes, those were, ummm, “suspicious” gingerbread people outside.

Photos: http://gazettephoto.mycapture.com