Wisconsin—In early December 2007, the Wisconsin Rapids Pathfinder club recruited help from a local 4-H club, and together the 26 children and helpers built a gingerbread village which occupied center stage at the Wisconsin Rapids mall through the holiday season.

Although this is the first time the 4-H club has helped out, it is the third year the Pathfinders have held this event from which all proceeds are donated to the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids, a shelter for women and families. In three years, more than $2,600 has been raised this way.

The supplies were donated by the local Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Wittenburg 4-H Club, and the houses were built mostly by the children, with each creation being as unique as the child who made it. The more unique offerings this year were a Dodge truck with headlights that worked, a mill house with a working water wheel which played music as it turned, and a Native American lodge (teepee), complete with a glowing fire inside and an outside covering of fondant, which very closely resembled real hide. They were created by Caleb Frey, Lucinda Thurmon and Ethan Frey respectively. Almost all the houses were lit up in some way, and it is the attention to detail that brought them all to life.

As the public moved through the mall, signs encouraged them to bid on the houses. The director of the Family Center truly appreciates the efforts of the Pathfinder club, and the children enjoy participating.

Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer, communication secretary, Wisconsin Rapids Church