This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 21, 2012 - A year ago Donna Carothers applied to be one of the 85 volunteers who decorate the White House for Christmas.
First, she submited photos of the flower arrangements the frustrated interior designer sometimes shares with her co-workers at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Then came the exciting news of a preliminary yes and background and security checks. After all that, Carothers was told of her selection.
She couldn’t tell anyone, though.
Finally, this November, just after Thanksgiving, Carothers, assistant director in the office of UMSL alumni and community relations, spent two and a half long days moving boxes, unloading Christmas decorations in golds and reds and working with a team of volunteers to bring Christmas to the East Room of the White House.
Carothers had been to the White House before, but never like this, with time and space to look at the portraits of JFK, Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She worked in the room where first lady Abagail Adams hung her winter laundry, according to the White House, where Meriwether Lewis slept and worked before heading off on a now-famous expedition, and where President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.
She was there to decorate, but it was soul-stirring, still.
The theme for this year’s Christmas decorations is “Joy to All,” chosen by the first lady, as it has been every year since Kennedy Onassis began choosing a theme for the holiday decor. Carothers, who teamed with decorators from around the country, worked in golds with pops of red, with crystal, Venetian glass, intricate lacework and needlework.
There’s a nativity scene, she says, from the 16th or 18th century that had to be videotaped as the 100 pieces were assembled.
The days were long, but went by fast. Carothers got to meet First Lady Michelle Obama at a reception for the volunteers. She’s saved her hand-written invitation, as well as a commemorative apron with gold embroidery and a booklet about the White House during this holiday season. They’re tucked away some place safe; she’s not telling where.
Carothers also brought home new skills, such as how to start inside the trunk of the tree as she decorates, working out to create depth. Her home is just a little brighter this year, too.
And, nearly a month later, she still carries this feeling with her, an amazement, perhaps, that a woman who loves arranging flowers on the side and never thought it would lead to much got to travel to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., drape greens and lights in the house that holds America’s history and meet the first lady.
“It’s taught me that, no matter how ridiculous your dream is, or even if it doesn’t matter to anyone else,” she says, “the most impossible thing is possible.”
The White House reports that 90,000 visitors will pass through this holiday season. Before they began arriving, Carothers was there, hanging lights, ornaments and greens, and realizing that, actually, there’s no such thing as impossible. Even for a frustrated interior designer.