Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 | 1:55 a.m.
Map of Boulder Creek Golf Club
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For more information, visit the event's website.
With more than 20 gingerbread houses stacked inside his house, awaiting the inaugural Boulder City Gingerbread House Competition and Christmas Market on Saturday, Rudi Kraft has noticed a festive scent wafting through his home.
"My house smells of Christmas," Kraft, 77, said with a laugh. A local artist, Kraft said he organized the event, which begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Boulder Creek Golf Club, to bring a positive family activity to Boulder City.
Judging will take place at 7 p.m. – and the winner will take home a $500 prize.
In addition to the gingerbread house contest, attendees can also take part in a European-style gift market. Throughout the day, vendors will be selling arts and crafts, candles, jewelry and holiday decorations.
Kraft said he’s hoping to make the holiday event an annual occurrence and has already booked Boulder Creek's events center for next Christmas.
As for the competition, Boulder City families and residents crafted most of the houses, Kraft said. After the winner is announced, the gingerbread houses be auctioned off and the proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit organization Family Promise of Las Vegas, which helps homeless families in the valley.
Kraft, who was born in the Netherlands and moved to Southern Nevada more than 25 years ago, said he wanted to bring a touch of his homeland to the contest. In Europe, he said, major cities might have a dozen Christmas markets, sort of like “a flea market on overdrive.”
He also hopes Saturday's event can bring families together.
"I hope it can build a stronger family bond," he said. "Children can work under the guidance of their parents. It makes them work together."
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