Gingerbread House Maker From Fairfax Wins Overall Prize

[Henry]

EMILY NELSON, Free Press

Shawn Lipenski of Winooski explains his sustainable gingerbread house complete with eco-friendly elements to host and judge Moretti in Fairfax.

Read the article if you wish about Karen Seaman winning her the overall prize at the second annual Gingerbread House Building and Smack-Talk Contest  on the Free Press Web Site written by Lauren Ober:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20081215/NEWS02/81214010

[Henry]

If anyone knows Karen Seaman, I would be happy to post a photo of her prize winning Gingerbread House up here on the forum if they can e-mail it to me.

[SusieJ]

Hey Henry--

I can call Karen and have her email you a photo--- You should also note that the prize for "best green" house went to the Joneses (my family) who are also Fairfax residents -- they didn't mention we are too from Fairfax inthe BFP article.

Susie

[Henry]

Hi Susie,

Below is what they wrote in the Free Press and if you have a photo of yours, would be glad to post that to.

"While the Seaman family worked to install pretzel window boxes on their gingerbread house, competitors the Jones family put the finishing touches on their house’s piece de resistance, the wind turbine.

In addition to a pellet boiler and a passive solar heating unit, the Jones’ built a working wind turbine made from a bread stick, a cupcake, a lollipop and pretzel rods. It’s likely that a strong sneeze would have knocked the turbine over, but the Jones’ got points for the fact that theirs was the only one to have blades that spun.

That the turbine worked was no thanks to Susie Jones, who broke her husband Travis’s feat of food engineering, not once, but twice.

“Do not tell Travis,” she instructed her competitors as she tried to salvage the broken blades.

The Jones family seemed a bit like sandbaggers in the competition, given that Travis Jones works for NRG Systems in Hinesburg and knows all about sustainable building and clean energy alternatives. Jones insisted he came up with his gingerbread house designs on the spot and denied having a competitive advantage."