College of the Ozarks students create gingerbread house modeled after campus landmark

POINT LOOKOUT, MO. — A team of students at The Keeter Center at College of the Ozarks created a gingerbread house modeled after Williams Memorial Chapel, an iconic campus landmark. The Keeter Center will display the model during the Christmas season.

Executive Chef Robert Stricklin provided oversight for the team of kitchen students throughout the project. Ingredients for the 6-foot-long gingerbread creation included 200 lbs. of flour, 25 lbs. of butter, 50 lbs. of powdered sugar, 64 lbs. of brown sugar, and 2 lbs. of cinnamon. Students invested 200 hours in the creation of the model chapel.

“The fact that the gingerbread chapel was student-made provides guests a beautiful reminder of the dedication and skill of College of the Ozarks students,” Stricklin said. “They collaborated on the effort and continued the tradition of building an enormous gingerbread house for the Christmas season at The Keeter Center.”

The chapel debuted last year as the featured gingerbread piece for the holiday season.

“We loved the chapel idea so much from last year that we decided to bring it back again,” said senior Crystal Gutierrez, culinary arts major. “We took inspiration from last year’s chapel in order to improve the creation for this year.”

“Some students have never made a gingerbread house of this scale before, so this job requires many creators and leaders who can help guide and mold the new students,” said James Morris, senior culinary arts major.

Morris has worked on the gingerbread projects at The Keeter Center for the last three years. 

While on campus, guests may visit the College of the Ozarks student industries, including the Stained Glass & Candle Shop and Edwards Mill. Shop for last-minute Christmas gifts, including student-made stained-glass pieces, fruit spreads, baskets, candles, and the classic C of O fruitcake. To order online and ship anywhere across the globe, visit store.cofo.edu.