Geri Hansen stands next to a gingerbread house she made that is now on display inside Ireland Bank in Lava. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoNews.com
LAVA HOT SPRINGS — Businesses in Lava Hot Springs often display intricate gingerbread mansions at this time of year, and one woman is the inspiration behind this tradition.
Each year, Geri Hansen spends hours upon hours constructing new displays and refurbishing others that have been in storage between winters.
It all started nine years ago, when Hansen entered the Lava Hot Springs Annual Gingerbread House Walk. Her first entries were models of her own home for the Lava Hot Springs Holiday Home Tour. Then she began making more intricate designs to be displayed at Mike’s Market.
Over the years, other business owners began recruiting her for their shops. This year, 10 of her creations are on display at businesses throughout town.
Courtesy Geri Hansen
Hansen told EastIdahoNews.com that she does get paid for the work — sometimes around $200 to $300. But considering what goes into the work — last year, she used 120 eggs, 40 pounds of powdered sugar and hundreds of dollars worth of candy — she has determined that she makes about 25 cents per hour.
“I’m not doing it for the money,” she said. “I’m doing it so the people that come to town can have something free to do with their family. They can just wander around and look.”
For Hansen, making gingerbread houses for the tour began as a competition. But now, she doesn’t view it that way. Her focus is on getting better from one year to the next, and trying new things to make her creations more fun for visitors.
It’s all about trial and error, she added. She has learned that houses to be displayed on the north side of Main Street cannot contain chocolate, as it will melt, and that she must regularly take a bucket of supplies to town and walk shop to shop revitalizing the colors in her creations.
“I just, kinda, try new things as I think of them,” she said. “Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.”
The Lava Hot Springs Annual Gingerbread House Walk runs from Nov. 26 through 9 p.m. Dec. 31. According to the Lava Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, Hansen’s 10 gingerbread houses are among 23 listed as part of this year’s tour. Print a map here.
Geri Hansen stands next to a gingerbread house she made that is now on display inside the Chuck Wagon in Lava. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoNews.com
The post Lava woman highlights town’s gingerbread house walk with 10 colorful creations appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com
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