Gauntlet thrown down for 2016 Overture gingerbread contest

© 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC

One feature of this year’s Overture to Christmas was the “business” category of the annual gingerbread house competition.

The Chester Telegraph preheated the oven and mixed up some spicy dough only to find that our gingerbread Yosemite Fire House was the only entry in that category.

Now, we like winning as much as anybody. But winning without any competition takes the fun out of it so we have issued this challenge to businesses in Chester for next year’s Overture.

Build a gingerbread house to enter in the competition and put at least $25 (more if you are confident that you’ll win) into the pot.

The folks who put on Overture to Christmas will judge the entries and the winner will get to decide which Chester charity gets all the entrance fees. The winner will also get a certificate and 365 days of bragging rights.

Entries can be exact scale models or total flights of fancy. The only rules are that the house (or any other building) must be baked by the owners or regular employees of the business (no ringers please) and the building – and all of its decorations and ancillary objects must be 100 percent edible.

Several businesses have already signed on, which means that the chances of a repeat Telegraph victory are dimmer. However, we — and they — have already started planning our 2016 projects.