Gingerbread Houses Bring Camaraderie, Cheer to the CC

It’s the sweetest time of the year, when creating gingerbread houses fosters team spirit across NIH and the colorful houses bring smiles to staff, patients and visitors of all ages who view them in the Clinical Center’s atrium.

It’s collegial until it’s competitive. This year, more than 60 teams decorated and submitted a confectionary creation for the annual contest.

They were clever, magical and a few were Wicked. There were gnomes, dwarves and busy bees. They ran hot to cold, from beaches to ski lodges. Some depicted movie scenes. A few paid homage to the Olympics. Other teams created science scenes: “North Polarized” cells; a vitamin sea; a clinical lab.

But as he sometimes does this time of year, the Grinch tried to steal the spotlight. One house showed him getting a check-up; another showed him getting a MRI scan, under the care of Dr. Santa.
                   
And the winners are…

Kids’ choice: CC pediatrics “Paradise Isle”; CC social work department’s Busy Bees and Moana by NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch.

General vote: NINDS’ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Neuroscience; NIAID’s Home Alone house and “Surprise, Surprise” by NHLBI’s Office of Research Nursing.

Contestants were grateful to the Foundation for the NIH for donating the kits. The houses were on display until Jan. 2.

To view all of this year’s creations, see this post on the CC’s Facebook page: bit.ly/3BoNvd0.