From a $50 seed to $14,900

How a fourth-grade gingerbread house became a lesson in community, legacy and multiplying good

By Reader Staff

By the time the pizza boxes were opened and the checks handed over, six fourth-graders at Priest Lake Elementary were already grinning. What they didn’t know was that the gingerbread house they built for the Festival of Trees had raised $14,900 at the gala auction — more than any gingerbread house in the competition’s three-year history.

Community Resource EnVision Center volunteer Connie Reed and Executive Director Katie Begalke recently presented the kids with a pizza party, a $200 classroom check and a $2,000 donation to the students’ chosen nonprofit: the Priest Lake Elementary Foundation.

The students had started their gingerbread project with $50 in seed money. From there, the first bidder at the 2025 Festival at Trees, Todd Otte, purchased the gingerbread house for $8,000 — then donated it back. The second bidder, Fred McLaren, bought it for $5,300 — and also donated it back.

The final bidder, Erin Riseborough, purchased it for $1,600, bringing the total to $14,900.

The students learned that their original $50 didn’t just grow — it was multiplied 298 times.

Reed and Begalke talked with the students about how their time, creativity, teamwork and determination helped create something that went far beyond their classroom, supporting 254 Community Resource EnVision Center clients — nearly one-third of the organization’s annual client base.

Then the students learned something else: Their gingerbread house had become a community favorite. Unlike many competitors, not a single student from the class was able to attend the Festival of Trees. Their votes weren’t boosted by classmates, siblings or parents. Their house won on its own merits.

The gingerbread house itself told a story. Designed by Ms. Rachel Gilbert and her six students, the creation was inspired by the historic Lamb Creek School, a one-room log schoolhouse built in 1934 with a $60 Works Progress Administration budget. Local residents cut, peeled and hauled the logs themselves.

The school served Priest Lake children until 1961. In 1974, it reopened as a volunteer-run library “to assist in the education of our children and provide enjoyment for the community and its visitors.” In 1999, it officially became the Priest Lake Public Library and was placed on the National Historic Register.

As Reed and Begalke arrived at the school, a man followed them through the doors, carrying a box and smiling. His name was Bryan Riegel. He explained that he had come for the gingerbread house — and to share why it mattered so deeply to him and to the Priest Lake community.

Riegel’s wife Lisa, who passed away earlier this year, had been one of the volunteers who read children’s books at the Lamb Creek Library as part of her job as assistant librarian at the Priest River Public Library for more than 10 years. That included reading to the students who built the winning gingerbread house.

“With thoughtfulness and dedication, she developed a wonderful weekly preschool story time that introduced many children to first books, reading and crafts,” according to Lisa’s obituary. “Building upon that experience, Lisa poured her heart into the annual summer reading program. She loved working at the library and opening little minds through early childhood literacy.”

Riegel shared that Riseborough had contacted Gilbert to ensure the gingerbread house made its way back to the classroom.

Riegel opened the box and unveiled the gingerbread house once more, showing the students photos of it displayed at the gala auction. He told them he plans to display it again at Lisa’s celebration of life in June — a gathering postponed so their blended family of seven children could all be together.

The Priest River students were the smallest classroom to participate in the gingerbread house competition and never saw the Festival of Trees lights or the gala room.

One of the students in the class made Begalke pinky swear that their story would make the news — in part because it’s been all they’ve talked about since November, when they started building something small while not knowing how big it would become.