Special Holiday Delivery To Firehouse 50
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A South Florida grandmother knows all about the spirit of the holidays. She spends much of her time making and delivering gingerbread houses to the special people in her life including Miami-Dade's Firehouse 50.
Maureen Peterson carefully designs, bakes and decorates each gingerbread house but these truly delicious holiday treats come with a rule for those who receive them.
"You cannot eat it for at least three days because after I put all that work into it, I want you to look at it," joked Maureen.
Who can blame her? Each gingerbread house takes hours to make. Her grandchildren even recorded every step of what it takes to bake these holiday treats and posted the video on YouTube.
However, it's not about the hard work of making these complicated confections, it's about the people who receive them, especially the hard working staff of Fire Station 50 in Cutler Bay.
Maureen has been delivering the gingerbread houses to Fire Station 50 every year for the past 17 years.
"Every year she comes by and brings these gingerbread houses and we really do appreciate it," said Miami-Dade Fire Lt. Jimmie Green.
Maureen brings each member of the fire house a gingerbread house to honor her husband's memory.
Maureen's husband Ed died five years ago but 12 years before that, members of Fire Station 50 saved his life, more than once.
"They brought him back four different times before they got him to the hospital. That gave me 12 extra years with him," said Maureen.
Those 12 years are signified with 12 candy bars placed inside each gingerbread house.
"It started off as Christmas gifts. Now I worry I am doing it for myself because it gives me more pleasure than the person who gets it," said Maureen.
