On Dec. 6, 2013, an annual gingerbread village display will be unveiled in the lobby of The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.
The gingerbread village, created through a partnership with the Auburn University College of Architecture, Design, Construction Master of Integrated Design and Construction Program and The Hotel and Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. Together, they work each year to produce this annual ginger bread extravaganza.
Using high-definition LiDAR technology, a remote sensory tech that measures the distance and size via a targeting laser analyzes reflected light, students of the College of Architecture and DCMIDC Program obtained exact diagrams of several buildings both on and off campus.
They then constructed wooden replicas from their diagrams.
After students construct a wooden frame of the buildings, The Hotel at Auburn University's executive sous chef, Robert Mason, and his team assemble the gingerbread on top of the wooden frames by hand.
"A couple of pounds of dough are used [on top of the wooden frames], but if you weigh it all together, it is close to 100 pounds of dough we have to roll up," Mason said.
The display takes 2-3 days to assemble in the hotel and is then moved to the lobby for viewing on the day of the unveiling.
Several buildings from around campus are displayed in addition to pathways made of candy.
Some of the buildings include the Hotel at Auburn University, Samford Hall and the Auburn train station, accompanied by a set of train tracks leading throughout the display.
Hundreds of people attend the village's unveiling and thousands attend driving the month-long course that the display is presented to the public. The display draws people from all across Auburn, including both students and residents, in hope to see their favorite buildings.
"Everyone has their own favorite, but if I had to say the Hotel would be my favorite," Tim Aylsworth, director of sales and marketing, said with a chuckle,
New buildings being added for this year's display include the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art and the President's house.
The show will be unveiled following Auburn's annual Christmas parade, beginning at 5 p.m. outside of the hotel on the corner of Thach Avenue and College Street.
All in attendance of the parade, as well as others, are welcomed and encouraged to come to the unveiling of gingerbread village in its sixth year of construction.
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