Gingerbread houses go to good cause

Dane Grace

Building gingerbread houses has been a longtime family tradition for

the Ayres family grandchildren, but now they’re grown, and they’re

extending their holiday spirit to the Down Syndrome Assn. of Orange

County.

“The grandchildren have, with their grandparents, done a

gingerbread-decorating house thing, but they’re a little older, and

it’s time to do something for someone else,” said Sandra Ayres, a

daughter-in-law in the Ayres clan, she helped organize the event.

The family will help children from the community build gingerbread

houses at the Ayres Suites Hotel on Bristol Street, which will be

decorated like a winter wonderland -- complete with Mr. and Mrs.

Claus and falling snow from a snow machine. Because Don Ayres -- the

owner of the Costa Mesa hotel -- is underwriting the entire affair,

all of the money will go to the association.

“It’s going to be amazing -- a Mrs. Claus’ kitchen-type thing,”

Sandra Ayres said.

The family considered several charities, but the McGee family and

their son -- a 2-year-old who has Down syndrome, a genetic

chromosomal disorder -- helped motivate the Ayres’ to turn their

tradition into a charity event.

“We did look at a few different things, but we have family friends

who are trying to get a learning center built, and we thought it’d be

a nice thing to get this off of the ground,” Sandra Ayres said. “It’s

kind of a holiday gift from the community to the foundation.”

The money will go toward the association’s pilot learning program,

something Sandra McGee, the boy’s mother, said Orange County will

benefit from.

“It’s going to mean that the kids that have Down syndrome get

early intervention and an opportunity to read and write like the rest

of the community,” McGee said. “But now, they’re being mainstreamed.

In the olden days, they didn’t read as well, because they weren’t

given the chance to learn.”

The event will include 200 gingerbread houses with several

children working on each. Organizers expect at least 500 people, who

they hope the event’s message will not be lost on.