Annual gingerbread event a tasty treat

BESSEMER - More than a dozen children spent Saturday morning making tasty creations during a gingerbread program through the Bessemer Public Library.

Kids received all the parts to put together delicious gingerbread houses and listened to a Christmas story or two.

Librarian Melissa Rajala said this was the second year the library has put the program on.

"This is something the kids talk about all year long," Rajala said. "It was a lot of fun last year."

Being a small community, Rajala said putting on programs is a little bit easier.

"I have wanted to do something like this for many years," Rajala said. "But I worked in very large libraries before. If you were to do something like this, you would get 200 kids to come. This is much easier to handle."

Participants were given graham crackers for the walls and roof, candies, cookies and other snacks to decorate, as well as frosting to hold it all together.

While waiting for the frosting to set, the kids listened to Christmas stories and snacked on hot chocolate and cookies before getting back to work.

According to Rajala, the library is hosting a teen gingerbread program on Wednesday at the library. There is no cost to attend, and interested participants should call the library to reserve a spot by Tuesday.

"Just so we know how much stuff to get," Rajala said.

Rajala also wanted people to mark their calendars for the Valentine's Day open house at the library on Feb. 12.

For more information about the event, future events or to register for the teen program, call the Bessemer Public Library at 906-663-0404.