Ray's gingerbread village wins vote

Ray's Food Place was the people's choice winner for the 8th Annual Sisters Habitat for Humanity Gingerbread Trail event. 

The voting is done by cash donations at the site of each display on the trail.

Ray's has been a stop on the gingerbread trail every holiday season, and its display has turned into a village over the years, featuring several buildings and a covered bridge.

Customers dropped nearly $240 into the donation house at the Ray's location. Coming in a close second with almost $220 was Habitat ReStore, which featured a house in honor of a Habitat home dedication. Third place went to Eurosports, with donations of $108.

Twenty-four local businesses participated, and donations totaled nearly $1,000 for the local affiliate, said Marie Clasen, Habitat's gingerbread trail coordinator. 

Kate Aspen, owner of Cowgirls and Indians Resale, said she saw a lot of people stop by her shop with gingerbread maps. She plans to participate in the 2015 event and said she even picked up a book for gingerbread home ideas. 

The judges' choice first-place award goes to Sisters Market's two-story house with its frosted cereal roof, candy-cane fence and chocolate-paver walkway. Second place goes to Alpaca by Design's house with its stained glass windows made out of fruit leather, and its back-in parking spots.

"It's so fun to see all the creative houses and to have the businesses support Habitat with their participation," said Clasen. "We would love to see more businesses join this event next year."