Ozarks Life: Gingerbread Chapel at College of the Ozarks

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. (KY3) - You’ve probably made one recently.

The holiday tradition of creating a gingerbread house.

Getting icing all over the kitchen, plopping candy with sticky fingers onto a piece of gingerbread, and making what is supposed to be a house.

“It’s just for us to be able to express our artistic creations and our artistic selves,” College of the Ozarks senior, James Morris said.

This is not just a gingerbread house but a piece of art created by students at College of the Ozarks.

It’s a sweet, six-foot-long replica of C of O’s campus landmark Williams Memorial Chapel. It greets visitors at the entrance of the Keeter Center

“It’s really awesome to have this big showpiece,” C of O senior Crystal Gutierrez said, “because not a lot of schools have these big master-like showpieces that students can work on.”

If you think you have a sweet tooth, then get a load of this. Williams Memorial Chapel has 200 pounds of flour, 25 pounds of butter, 50 pounds of powdered sugar, 64 pounds of brown sugar, two pounds of cinnamon, and a partridge in a pear tree.

“It’s just one outlet for us to actually use to get our creations out there,” Morris said. “I love doing art myself.”

“It was really nice to see the collaboration,” Gutierrez said, “and seeing how design and food creation are kind of paired together.”

This is the second straight year C of O students have created a Williams Memorial Chapel doppelganger. Allowing them to adjust and add to this year’s creation.

“If you look into the windows,” Morris said, “you can see that there’s a picture in every window on the side showing the actual Christmas story. And it’s just a small detail. So I want people to be like, ‘they took their time. They did this correct. It looks perfect.’”

Morris was the team leader and organized the 200 hours of baking and designing.

“I had to get the people and just try to figure out when the deadlines were, what was going to happen, and get all the recipes,” Morris said.

“I think it’s just really awesome to showcase student talent and also showcase what ‘Hard Work U’ is all about,” Gutierrez said.

The Williams Memorial Chapel gingerbread house will be on display at the Keeter Center through the Christmas season.

Executive Chef Robert Stricklin has his students do other projects throughout the year; including ice sculptures.

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