OMAHA, Neb. — The aroma of gingerbread is ever-present this time of year
at the Historic Mormon Trail Center in Nebraska, thanks to the 200 gingerbread
houses that are on display. Across the Missouri River, in Council Bluffs, Iowa,
80 gingerbread houses are on display.
__IMAGE3__ A replica of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple stands
about 30 inches tall. The other creations include a Nativity scene, a windmill
and a \"Night Before Christmas\" house.
At the Kanesville Tabernacle, one of those pieces is the
handiwork of a 79-year-old sister, Bonnie Wyscarver. She created a gingerbread
replica of her two-story Victorian home, complete with stained glass windows.
The area young women decorate
Christmas trees with hand-made ornaments which frame the perimeter of the space
while music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir plays. Members of the three stakes in
the greater Omaha area including the Council Bluffs Iowa Stake, the Omaha
Nebraska Stake and the Omaha Nebraska Papillion Stake, make most of the houses
and include all level of expertise from Cub Scouts to master bakers.
__IMAGE1__\"These displays are the
perfect place to take friends during the holidays. Many members and non-members
have incorporated this outing into their family Christmas celebrations,\"
Marge Ericksen of Omaha said.
She assisted Judy Skalla with the
first display years ago and has watched it grow into a popular tradition in the
greater Omaha-Council Bluffs area.
The gingerbread house tradition
started 24 years ago when Skalla, then the Omaha stake public affairs
director, wondered how more visitors could be enticed to visit the small house
that became the site of the Winter Quarters Visitors' Center.
Visitors were plentiful during the
fall and spring, when busloads of school children came on field trips to learn
more about the Mormon pioneers who had lived there during the winter of 1846-47
and in the area until 1856.
In the winter months, however,
there were few visitors. Skalla had recently organized a successful ward
fund-raising project of selling gingerbread houses to raise money for a new
stake center. Three hundred houses were sold, and $5,000 was raised.
__IMAGE2__The first display had 15
gingerbread houses set around the modest living room. This year there are 200
gingerbread houses at the visitors center, including a replica of the Winter
Quarters Nebraska Temple that stands about 30 inches tall.
Last year approximately 12,500
visitors attended. This year 200 exhibits are on display.
Five years ago a second display
location was established in the reconstructed Kanesville Tabernacle on the east
side of the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This facility provides a
rustic feel for an old-fashioned Christmas. Last year, 3,200 people visited the
Kanesville exhibit and this year 80 gingerbread creations are on display.
Both exhibits are open through Dec.
31. The Historic Mormon Trail Center, 3215 State St., Omaha, is open 9
a.m.-9 p.m. except Christmas, and closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The Kanesville
Tabernacle, 222 E. Broadway, Council Bluffs, is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. except
Christmas, and closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.