Overland Park ? There are snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles, cherry nut bread and truffles — thousands of holiday treats laid out on the 16-foot table.

All are the handiwork of Mark Ostrander who, for years, has slaved away in his Lenexa kitchen to serve up a grand holiday buffet of desserts to workers at Menlo Worldwide Forwarding.

Ostrander began his work weeks ago, spending some 70 or 80 hours churning out an estimated 4,000 cookies, 15 pounds of fudge, 12 pounds of caramels and 16 loaves of bread. All for the sake of a holiday tradition in which Ostrander spoils his co-workers with sweets.

“This is the highlight of our year,” said Jan Arnold, one of some 200 customer service workers at the transportation logistics company.

The massive sugarfest — held this year on Wednesday — was started about 16 years ago. Forty-eight-year-old Ostrander’s buffet is big enough to last from the morning into the midnight shift, and nearly all of it is made from scratch.

“This is mine, truthfully,” Ostrander said. “Most women cannot believe it.”

Ostrander often sends a box or two of his goodies to employees in far-off places, though it’s not uncommon for workers to fly in for “meetings” on cookie day.

“We keep telling him he should quit here and start his own cookie store,” said Carlos Pinno, a Menlo worker.

Heaping plates of desserts and smiles on co-workers are a glimpse of how much Ostrander’s gift is enjoyed. It’s come to symbolize the holiday season has arrived.

“Nobody asks him to do it, but certainly the expectation starts to brew from about Thanksgiving Day on,” said Tom Burgess, Menlo’s customer service director. “It’s a sign that Christmas is here.”