WASHINGTON POST: Monday, first lady Jill Biden is expected to reveal this year’s White House holiday decorations. Among them is the focal point of the Blue Room: the floor-to-ceiling Fraser fir Christmas tree.
The tradition that began with President William Howard Taft’s children dropping a tree into the Blue Room in 1912 has become a carefully orchestrated search for a tree that must be the right height and should be strong enough to hold up thousands of ornaments. Once selected, a team of White House staff and volunteers stand on scaffolding wrapping lights and hanging handmade ornaments and ribbons before the first family takes an exclusive peek. Hundreds of gallons of water keep the tree fresh and exuding the scent of Christmas.
The hunt for the Blue Room Christmas tree begins at the farm. In October, like every fall, a White House delegation traveled to the winner’s farm to pick the tree that will temporarily replace the chandelier in the Blue Room, an oval parlor used for receptions and small dinners.
This year the White House team went to Fleetwood, N.C., where it closely inspected and measured six trees grown by siblings Amber Scott and Alex Church, the winners of this year’s Grand Champion Grower contest. The National Christmas Tree Association, a trade industry that promotes the use of real pines, has run the contest since the 1960s. The winner donates a Christmas tree to be placed in the Blue Room, and the runner-up tree traditionally stands at the vice president’s home. To qualify for the national contest, growers must first win a state or regional competition.
