DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Leland Tobias and sons Jacob, left, 5, and Luke, 3, check out an extension being built to their Kailua home. The boys' mother, Tracy, is with her National Guard battalion, training in Texas for deployment to Iraq. Tobias plans to retain a family tradition, however, by taking the boys to the Gingerbread Festival.

The Easter Seals’ Gingerbread
Festival is adopting the families
of deployed personnel, to give
them a warmer holiday

The Tobias family looks forward to attending the Gingerbread Festival at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall right after Thanksgiving each and every year. "We make it a family thing," said Leland Tobias. The one difference this holiday season -- Mom will be missing.

Easter Seals' Gingerbread Festival Place: Blaisdell Exhibition Hall Date: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 5 Entry fee: $29.95 for a 7-by-8-by-8-inch house; $49.95 for a 9-by-10-by-10-inch house Corporate fee: $600 ($450 tax deductible) per team Sponsor a family: You may cover admission for the family of a member of the 29th Support Battalion deployed overseas. Call: 536-1015. Reservations required; the event usually sells out. Public Viewing When: 3 to 8 p.m. Dec. 17, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 18, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 19 Place: Ward Warehouse, second-floor conference rooms Admission: $1 Call: 536-1015

Tracy Tobias is in Fort Bliss, Texas, awaiting deployment to Iraq and will not return until March 2006. She is a part of the National Guard's 29th Support Battalion, which left Hawaii in early October. She'll still be able to enjoy the event in spirit; as Leland says, "We'll videotape the event for her."

"I used to be in the Guard. I'd feel much better if we could switch places," said Leland, who is still working out the kinks of being a single parent to their two sons, Luke, 3, and Jacob, 5. "I am not Mom and can't pretend to be Mom. I do things differently, which is challenging for them."

They miss her, but kids are resilient, he explained. Before Tracy left, she made videos in which she reads books to the children. "Luke always goes up and touches the TV," Leland said. "And I still try to keep structure kinda the same so they will know that everything is going to be OK."

In a gesture to assure the family won't be alone over the holidays, Easter Seals has adopted the families of 29th Battalion personnel who have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, as participants in the annual festival. Leland is hoping to find holiday cheer and share the Gingerbread Festival and other holiday festivities with Mom from afar.

"With the absence of a loved one, we know that the holidays will be especially difficult for the children of these families," said Alan Wong, an Easter Seals board member, who is encouraging companies or the general public to host a family so that they can participate in the Gingerbread Festival. "This is an incredible way for companies to support our military and foster the spirit of giving in our community."

STAR-BULLETIN / 2001 Corporate teams take their work seriously at the Easter Seals' Gingerbread Festival. John McLaughlin of the One Fas Lube team worked on a gingerbread scale model of Iolani Palace at the festival three years ago.

WONG WILL supply pre-baked gingerbread pieces and he'll be on hand at the festival to provide tips to families on building their gingerbread houses. Teams pay $29 for a 7-by-8-by-8-inch house, or $49 for a 9-by-10-by-10-inch house that they take home.

More than 2,500 families participated in Easter Seals Hawaii's Gingerbread Festival last year, raising $20,000 to support Easter Seals programs.

This year's event takes place Dec. 5 at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Other events will be held on Kauai and in Hilo.

Corporate teams participate in a separate event, paying an entry fee of $600 to compete. Themed award categories for the corporate teams are: island style, traditional and corporate. A team spirit award is also issued. Their creations will be on display Dec. 17 to 19 at Ward Warehouse. School and organization tours are available.

"We continue to see this Gingerbread Festival grow each year as more families learn the value of starting holiday traditions with their children," said Billie Gabriel, vice president for development at Easter Seals Hawaii.

The funds raised from entry fees and the $1 admission fees during the public viewing will go toward infant and youth programs at Easter Seals, of which Luke Tobias is a beneficiary.

"We didn't know Luke had Down's syndrome until after his birth," said Leland. "We got involved with the Easter Seals program to provide opportunities for him.

"We are always looking for ways to help him. We want him to go to a regular school and to college, so we set the bar high. Our goal is to help him become an independent, law-abiding citizen -- to find himself a place in the world, his own little niche."

Jacob serves as a role model, Leland added. "He has an older brother to look up to. He wants to do the same things his brother does.

"Luke is an angel and has made us appreciate life a whole lot more."