WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the final holiday stretch at the White House for President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who has the executive mansion decorated to the theme of “A Season of Peace and Light.”
The first lady is set to unveil the decorations and deliver a holiday message at a White House event on Monday.
Several hundred volunteers spent the past week decorating the White House’s public spaces with nearly 10,000 feet of ribbon, more than 28,000 ornaments, over 2,200 doves and some 165,000 lights on wreaths, garlands and other displays.
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There are also 83 Christmas trees in the mansion, including the official tree in the Blue Room: a towering Fraser fir from North Carolina that was anchored to the ceiling after the chandelier was 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.
