Gingerbread King builds sweet memories

  • Published
  • By Debbie Kubik
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  For more than 35 years, Tommie Jones has been making gingerbread structures. This year, he has added 13 pieces to his repertoire. Seven are displayed at the enlisted dining area at the Milazzo Club; six can be seen at Mitchell Hall here.

Jones said that many other organizations have gingerbread houses on display, but no one builds them like he does.

“They can’t beat the Gingerbread King,” Jones said. “That’s me!”

Jones is the lead baker and supervisor at the bakery in Mitchell Hall. He also trains employees in the finer elements of baking pastries and checks for quality assurance as he and his staff feed more than 4,000 cadets three times a day.

Jones used to be a pastry chef at a local hotel. Each year the employees in the bakery created masterpieces made of gingerbread. One year they built a playhouse big enough for children to walk through. That experience started a trend that would run for years to come.

“It’s fun,” Jones said. “It’s therapeutic and helps to bring out the kid in all of us.”

The gingerbread creations are sprayed with varnish to preserve them. The houses in Mitchell Hall are taken to the staff’s Christmas party and raffled off.

This tireless chef also coordinates and judges a gingerbread house contest at the Child Nursery Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. He helps to answer any questions about making gingerbread structures contestants might have.

“They’ve been helping underprivileged children for more than 103 years,” Jones said. “I don’t have the time, but I make the time to help them.”