FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM John McLaughlin, part of the team from One Fas Lube, labored yesterday to construct a scale model of Iolani Palace.

Gingerbread fest brings in
$15,000 for Easter Seals

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By Betty Shimabukuro
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

There are lots of reasons to spend a Sunday afternoon immersed in gingerbread, but most of them involve children. Yesterday, hundreds of adults gathered at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall to wrestle many, many slabs of gingerbread into holiday panoramas, all for corporate glory.

OK, and also for charity, to assert their creativity and practice teamwork.

"It's a different mentality," said Glenn Oda, who led the Unifab Industries team of sheet metal fabricators in building a gingerbread house and barn. "But I know now we can all play together."

Their buildings had metal substructures -- most everyone else had cardboard or pressed foam. They even had real copper rain gutters.

Overall winner was the Sheraton-Waikiki, led by executive chef Alfred Cabacungan, who actually installed a working chocolate waterfall in the elaborate island scene. His team also took the professional category.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Last year's top winner, One Fas Lube won the amateur division yesterday. Other winners included Hawaiian Electric (traditional and spirit) and Communications Pacific (corporate).

Amateur team winner (this would be a team that did not have the help of professional pastry chefs) was One Fas Lube, which built a scale model of Iolani Palace, complete with interior lighting.

One Fas Lube was last year's top winner, and team member Donna McLaughlin said there was no question they'd be back this year. It's a family business, and she was there with her husband, brother and mother. "We're extremely blessed, and this is just a way for us to show our creativity and be a part of the greater Hawaii."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM At the Gingerbread Festival in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, Gerald Tomosawa worked on the S&B Foods Hawaii team creation, which had a roof covered with gummy rings.

The teams paid $500 each to enter. The competition ended a full-day Gingerbread Festival, sponsored by Alan Wong's restaurants for the benefit of Easter Seals of Hawaii.

Through the day, 1,700 people built and decorated gingerbread houses to take home, using pieces baked by culinary students from Kapiolani and Leeward community colleges.

Participation had to be limited because the students could only make so much gingerbread.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Led by executive chief Alfred Cabacungan, the Sheraton-Waikiki team won the overall and professional divisions. Their creation had a working chocolate waterfall.

Bottom line: The full day of activity netted $15,000 for Easter Seals' programs for children with disabilities -- way over the $8,000 raised last year. "We had to turn people away, so we know we can do better," organizer Billie Gabriel said. "We just have to find a way to make more gingerbread."

Other winners: Hawaiian Electric Co. in the traditional category and for team spirit (for a colorful Santa's village) and Communications Pacific in the corporate category (for a group of buildings representing the company's clients).

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