An entire village made of gingerbread, candy and the imaginations of culinary arts students will be on display until December 14, 2011, in the lobby of the VisTaTech Center. Culinary Arts students created the "Holidays Around the World" themed fantasy village in a competition for scholarships made available by the Schoolcraft College Foundation.

"St. Basil’s Cathedral," created by Matthew Fisher of Dearborn Heights, Morgan Massucci of Westland and Sheri Frader of Plymouth, won first place. Second place honors went to "Sydney Opera House," created by Anna Darwactor of Macomb, George Magro of Milford and Jodie Austin of Howell. "Chinese New Year at the Temple of Heaven," created by Joyce Morris of South Lyon, Claire Fuelling of Milford and Emily Barnhart of Monroe won third place. 

The students created the village on their own time under the direction of Certified Master Pastry Chef Joseph Decker. At least half of the construction materials must be made of gingerbread and must be completely edible, excluding the base on which it is built and non-edible plastic or other non-edible materials for the windows. The creations must have a front entrance and walkway, must be decorated on all sides and may have electric lights. The scholarship competition winning entries were selected for their craftsmanship, neatness, originality, degree of difficulty and use of the theme.

The public is encouraged to visit the "Holidays Around the World" Gingerbread Village during regular business hours through December 14.