Auburn gingerbread village to be unveiled Dec. 10

The eighth annual unveiling of the Auburn gingerbread village Thursday, Dec. 10, at 5 p.m. will launch holiday festivities for The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. Immediately following Auburn's Christmas parade on Thursday, visitors can view the village in the lobby and enjoy hot cocoa, cider, cookies and a hand-bell choir performance. The village will then be on display throughout the month of December.

The gingerbread village is a collaborative project between students and faculty from the Master of Integrated Design and Construction program in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, general manager Hans van der Reijden and chefs of the hotel.

Each year, models of buildings to be added to the village are created by construction and design students and faculty and then decorated by hotel chefs. This year's addition is Storybook Farm, a nonprofit horse farm. Located in Opelika, Storybook Farm allows children ages two to young adulthood who are challenged with a variety of physical, emotional, social and mental situations to embrace and celebrate life on horseback.

The new building will join the President's Home, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Cater Hall, Langdon Hall, Hargis Hall, Samford Hall, The Hotel at Auburn University, the Auburn Train Depot, the Auburn University Chapel and the Halliday Cary Pick house, home of the Cary Center, to form the miniature gingerbread village.

The model's for this year's additions were created by Paul Holley, a professor in the McWorther School of Building Science in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, and students in the Master of Integrated Design and Construction program. Holley and his class created the houses' framework using high-definition LiDAR technology.