WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are savoring the final holiday season at the White House. The executive mansion has been adorned with the theme of “A Season of Peace and Light”, a beautiful setting for the festivities.
The first lady is set to unveil the decorations and deliver a holiday message at a White House event on Monday.
During the past week, a dedicated team of several hundred volunteers diligently worked to decorate the White House’s public areas. The decor includes almost 10,000 feet of ribbon, over 28,000 ornaments, more than 2,200 doves, and an impressive 165,000 lights adorning wreaths, garlands, and various displays.
Amidst the festive display, an astonishing total of 83 Christmas trees grace the rooms of the mansion. Among them stands the majestic official tree in the Blue Room, a magnificent Fraser fir hailing from North Carolina. To accommodate its grandeur, the tree has been secured to the ceiling after the chandelier was carefully removed.
“As we celebrate our final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values we hold sacred: faith, family, service to our country, kindness towards our neighbors, and the power of community and connection,” the Bidens wrote in a commemorative holiday guidebook that will be given to all visitors.
The White House expects about 100,000 people to visit this month.
Guests will enter the White House under a rotating starlight and will be surrounded by a collection of bells — brass-colored bells hanging from the ceiling and sleigh bells lining the archways — symbolizing the sounds of the holidays as they move along the East Colonnade hallway.
Upstairs, the ceiling and windows in the East Room are wrapped in a reflective canopy to create the feeling of a peaceful snowfall. Silhouettes of people holding hands decorate the bases of two large Christmas trees in the room.
Light shines through colored glass ornaments and prisms in the Green Room while paper doves in the Red Room carry messages of peace. Doves are also suspended overhead in the Cross Hall.
The Blue Room tree features a light-filled carousel with the names of every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia around the tree’s decorations.
In the State Dining Room, a starburst shines above the gingerbread White House, which this year incorporates a scene of people ice skating on the South Lawn.
The sugary confection — which is for display purposes only and never eaten — was made using 25 sheets of gingerbread dough, 10 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 65 pounds (29.48 kilograms) of pastillage, a sugar paste, 45 pounds (20.41 kilograms) of chocolate, 50 pounds (22.68 kilograms) of royal icing, and 10 pounds (4.54 kilograms) of gum paste.
As part of Joining Forces, Jill Biden’s White House initiative to support military families, the first lady invited National Guard families to be the first members of the public to experience the holiday decor. The Bidens’ late son, Beau, served in the Delaware Army National Guard.
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