Biden attended the final White House Christmas tree lighting of his presidency

President Biden attended the annual Christmas tree lighting at the Ellipse Temple on Thursday evening, marking his final time taking part in the annual tradition before he leaves the White House next year.

Mr. Biden returned to the White House early Thursday after spending the Earlier this week in Angola. Before he left, he ignited a firestorm by displaying one comprehensive pardon for his sonHunter, who had been convicted of federal drug and weapons offenses and pleaded guilty to tax charges. When asked about the pardon earlier this week, the first lady, who attended Hunter Biden’s trial every day in Delaware, said: “Of course I support pardoning my son.”

This year’s Christmas tree is a 35-foot-tall Norway spruce from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia. A collection of 58 smaller trees are decorated with student-designed ornaments from every state and territory.

The 102nd Tree Lighting Ceremony will be hosted by Mickey Guyton and will feature performances by Adam Blackstone, Stephen Sanchez, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood. Viewers can watch the entire ceremony on December 20 on CBS.

White House Christmas Decorations 2024

The tree lighting is the final part of the White House’s holiday makeover. This year’s theme is “A Time of Peace and Light.”

First Lady Jill Biden unveiled the Christmas decorations in the East Room on Monday and spoke with volunteers who brought the winter wonderland to life.

“As we celebrate our final holidays here at the White House, we are guided by the values ​​that we hold sacred: faith, family and service to our country, kindness to all our neighbors and the power of community,” she said.

Decorating the halls of the White House requires over 300 volunteers from across the country, as well as approximately 3,000 yards of ribbon, 28,125 ornaments and 2,200 paper doves.

The White House is expecting over 100,000 visitors during the holiday season. The first lady welcomed the families of National Guard members on Tuesday to be the first to see the awards. Upon arrival, visitors will see a Christmas tree dedicated to Gold Star families, consisting of six stacked stars representing all six branches of the military. Down at the East Colonnade, guests will be surrounded by bells “symbolizing the peaceful sounds of the holiday season.” In the East Room, a reflective canopy next to the chandeliers sparkles like falling snow, while two large Christmas trees guard the main entrance.

According to the White House, the first known Christmas tree in the White House was in 1889 during the administration of Benjamin Harrison. It was a much smaller affair, with only one Christmas tree in the Oval Room on the second floor, which was decorated with candles by President Harrison’s grandchildren.

The annual Gingerbread White House manages to combine 25 sheets of gingerbread dough, 10 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 65 pounds of pastillage, 45 pounds of chocolate, 50 pounds of royal icing, and 10 pounds of gum paste in the mold of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Volunteers who bring the decorations to life

Alisa Cooper de Uribe, a first-grade bilingual teacher at New Mexico International School in Albuquerque and the 2021 New Mexico Teacher of the Year, was one of the volunteers who gathered the thousands of doves. She traveled with her family to Washington, D.C. to be part of the White House decorating team.

“It’s a sisterhood, a brotherhood. It was a very collegial atmosphere,” Cooper de Uribe told CBS News. “And that was one of the things that really impressed me: how well these people worked together, coming together without knowing anything about each other.”

Holiday volunteers include teachers, military families, nurses and small business owners from across the country, all of whom apply before being selected for decorating duty. Bright and early on the day after Thanksgiving, volunteers arrived at the White House to begin full days of glitter and garland before the first lady unveiled all of her work. The first lady’s office sent out special invitations to state teacher of the year winners like de Uribe to join the tradition of holiday volunteers. Some volunteers formed text message chains and Facebook groups with the intention of staying in touch long after the ornaments were removed.

Centerpiece of holiday decorations

The centerpiece of the Blue Room’s Christmas decorations is an 18½-foot-tall Fraser fir that arrived from the Cartner Family of Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in North Carolina. The tree was one of the survivors Thousands of others were destroyed when Hurricane Helene hit the Blue Ridge Mountains. The owners named it “Tremendous” as a tribute to the resilience of North Carolina communities affected by Hurricane Helene.

In the state dining room, ornaments hang on the Christmas tree with self-portraits of students, including four of de Uribe’s first graders.

“It was an opportunity for the students to see themselves reflected in the White House and this season and to see that it is their place and their opportunity to bring out their individual and unique selves and their culture through their portraits,” says de Uribe said.