Gingerbread Tradition Continues

By WRILEY NELSON
COOPERSTOWN

The Otesaga Resort Hotel unveiled the latest installment in its tradition of holiday-season gingerbread house displays in early December. The display, an “Adirondack Lake and Lodge” village, weighs in at more than 100 pounds and takes up an honored place in the center of The Otesaga lobby. It took the four-person team more than 50 hours to design, bake, assemble and decorate.

“I’ve been working here for more than 20 years,” said Executive Pastry Chef Peter Calhoun. “I worked here from 2001 to 2007 and then returned in 2014. This is our ninth year of the gingerbread display for the holidays. We do a different theme every year.”

Calhoun graduated from Cooperstown Central School in 1994 and attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

“Families come to see the display every year,” he continued. “We’ve really been able to see a lot of the kids grow up as they come back for the tradition. We started working right after Thanksgiving to get this up and running for December.”

The Otesaga’s Adirondack village will be on display through the end of the year.