Highest vote-getter of the festival was “The Christmas Tree is Here!” by Mrs. Christian’s preschool class, St. John Lutheran School, Plymouth. — Submitted photo

KOHLER – The winners of the 25th annual Waelderhaus Gingerbread Festival competition have been announced by Kohler Foundation. From November 26 through December 30, the Waelderhaus was host to a delicious collection of houses, stables, churches, and Christmas villages.  Cash prizes, based on votes tallied from more than 2,500 visitors, are being awarded in seven categories. The overall highest vote-getter of the festival was the creative depiction of “The Christmas Tree is Here!” created by Linda Christian’s 4 Year Old Preschool class from St. John Lutheran School in Plymouth. 

The first-place winners in each category were awarded $500.  They include:
Pre-school:  St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. Linda Christian’s class) “The Christmas Tree is here”
Grades K-2: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. MacGillis’s class) “Whoville”
Grades 3-5:  Kohler Public School (Mrs. Bruggink’s class) “SpongeBob Holiday Wonderland”

Waelderhaus visitor, Cecelia Zielke, examines “Frankly, The Holidays are all Wright,” created by the 8th grade art class at Lake Country Academy, which was the first place winner of the 6 – 8 grade category. -submitted photo

Grades 6-8:  Lake Country Academy (Ruth Smith/Michele Konrad 8th gr. Art Class) “Frankly, The Holidays are all Wright”
Grades 9-12: Random Lake High School (Ms. MacDonald’s class) “Not Mush-Room House”
Community Groups: Plymouth-Cedar Grove AFS Students (Diane Gafney/Caren Johnson) “Worldwide Christmas”
Open: The TeBeest Family (Ashley TeBeest) “Whistling Straits”

Second-place winners earned a $250 cash prize.  They include:
Pre-school:  Bethlehem Lutheran School (Mrs. Buss/Mrs. Kubow’s 3K) “Christ is the Heart of Christmas”
Grades K-2:  St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Miss Scheele’s 2nd gr. class) “Cozy Log Cabin”
Grades 3-5:  St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs MacGillis’s 5th gr class) “Santa’s Workshop”
Grades 6-8:  St. John the Baptist Catholic School (Jen Stielow’s STEM Class) “Hallmark Christmas Cottage”
Grades 9-12: Cedar Grove Belgium High School (Mrs. Urness’s World of Foods Class) “Christmas Lodge”
Community Groups: Christ Child Academy (Diane Mutsch Extended Day Program, Advisor) “Hope  Peace  Joy  Love”
Open: Williams Family Grandkids (Carol Williams) “Hunting Cabin”