DECEMBER 11, 2008 issue
North Carolina at the White House
Not Just the Official Tree, But Ornaments Too
Story by Kathleen McFadden
North Carolina is well represented at the White House this Christmas. Not only is the mansion decorated with 27 Fraser firs from the High Country, but the official White House Christmas tree is also decorated with hand-painted ornaments representing the state and all of its Congressional districts.
Official Tree
First Lady Laura Bush stood under an umbrella in the rain at the North Portico of the White House on November 30 to accept the delivery of an 18.5-foot Fraser fir from River Ridge Tree Farms in Crumpler. A horse-drawn wagon pulled the tree up to the steps where Jessie Davis and Russell Estes, owners of the farm, formally presented the official White House Christmas Tree for 2008 to the first lady.
“It represents all tree farms to the nation,” Davis said. “The White House deserves the best quality tree and we believe that a tree grown right here on an American farm can represent the nation well.”
The two Ashe County farmers earned the honor of providing the official White House tree by winning the National Christmas Tree Association’s national Christmas tree contest in August 2008 in Des Moines, Iowa. Members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented the official White House Christmas Tree for display in the Blue Room since 1966.
Director of the Executive Residence and White House Chief Usher Stephen Rochon, Superintendent of Grounds Dale Haney and White House Chief Floral Designer Nancy Clarke visited River Ridge Tree Farms to handpick the tree on October 21.
River Ridge Tree Farms also provided about 25 smaller trees for the White House, including the ones for the offices of the president and vice president.
Holiday Theme
This year’s holiday theme at the White House is A Red, White and Blue Christmas, a celebration “of the patriotic spirit that unites us as Americans,” according to information supplied by the White House. The official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room is decorated with 369 ornaments hand decorated by artists selected by their members of Congress. Mrs. Bush invited all senators and representatives to participate.
Artists were tasked with creating ornaments that fit the red, white and blue color scheme and that also characterize the unique, patriotic spirit of the artist’s state, district or territory.
Mrs. Bush invited each of the artists to attend a holiday open house at the White House on December 2, and western North Carolina was well represented at the gala.
State Ornament
Pete Driscoll—www.watermarkproducts.com—created the state ornament for North Carolina. Driscoll, a Wisconsin native, moved to North Carolina in 1991 and lives in Bermuda Run near Winston-Salem. After years of working in different media—he paints, sculpts and works in wood—Driscoll has turned his attention to the art of scrimshaw. One of his scrimshaw pieces—a depiction of the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest, Burr’s alma mater—hangs in Burr’s front office in Washington.
Driscoll said he did not know Burr had selected him for the commission until he received the ornament from the White House. He checked with Burr’s office to make sure everything was on the level and then got to work.
He decided to create an impressionistic painting reflecting the theme From the Mountains to the Sea and worked in acrylics to render a Carolina blue sky, clouds, the mountains and the ocean. “The red, white and blue color scheme lends itself to the sky and the sea,” Driscoll said, and the state’s name appears “roughly around the North Pole” on the ornament, he added.
“I’m so proud to have done that ornament,” he said.
5th District Ornament
Rebecca Stone-Danahy created the 5th District ornament. She is the Art Department chair at Forsyth Country Day School, a private pre-K to 12th grade school in Lewisville. Stone-Danahy decided on a beach scene for the 5th District ornament.
“I created a beach scene for the theme of red, white, and blue on the tree ornament. When it arrived, it was a 6-inch plastic, silver globe that had to be sanded and primed before I could paint it. I ultimately decided to create the beach scene for the 5th District because so many of the residents of this area vacation at the beach and in our current society, we are very transient! Thus, I felt a beach scene would best fit the color scheme of red, white and blue and still represent our families in the triad. I also chose to do the ocean scene because the ornament was round and I knew a traditional landscape might not work on a sphere in trying to maintain a straight horizon line or have it layered with background imagery.
Because so many residents in my area vacation several times a year at the ocean and I had also just finished an ocean painting, I felt very confident to move forward in that direction,” Stone-Danahy said.
“I did have full artistic control and it was completely up to me to design and paint the ornament,” she added.
“I spent about 8 hours painting the ornament and researched images of the lighthouse in the North Carolina Our State magazine. The beach umbrellas and boat were from a photograph I found in a collection of 50-year-old Kodachrome family slides that I have been scanning into digital images.” Stone-Danahy recently received a Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County to reproduce and create works of art from these images.
She continued, “I also worked from my memory of the beach and sand dunes. I painted the ornament in acrylic paint although I am primarily an oil painter.
Because the ornament was round, it was difficult to paint in that I had to hold it in one hand and paint on it with the other. Thus, I needed a medium that would dry quickly and not smear or get fingerprints on it as I worked.”
Stone-Danahy said she was grateful to Virginia Foxx’s office for giving her the opportunity to create the ornament and attend the holiday open house at the White House. “It was a wonderful experience and one I shall not forget,” she said.
10th District Ornament
Tommy Stine created the 10th District ornament. Stine, who was born in Catawba County, is largely self-taught. He owns an art and frame gallery in Hickory—www.stinesgallery.com—where he exhibits and sells his realistic watercolors and acrylics.
“I had full artistic privilege,” Stine explained. “The White House just asked for something that represented our district or state. I knew the theme would be patriotic, red white and blue colors; we just had to keep it secret from the media until Laura Bush announced it.
“The ornament ball is approximately seven inches in diameter; I believe it was silver plastic. I had about a month and a half to work on it. I coated it with gesso and painted the images with acrylic. I chose as images Table Rock that can be seen just about any place in our Unifour area and beyond. One image is the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge that is in Catawba, N.C., about 15 miles from Hickory.
It is one of the only two covered bridges in North Carolina. Another image is a flying cardinal—our state bird—and a single dogwood flower on top—our state flower. There is a double image of each except for the flower on top.
Stine also attended the White House reception. “My daughter Bonnie Sarratt went with me to the White House as a guest. The invitation came from Laura Bush to attend the artists’ reception. She spoke to us to and thanked us for painting the ornaments. I understand they will be a part of the Smithsonian Museum permanent collection. We had our photo taken by the White House photographer and we had superb food and hospitality,” Stine added.
22,000 Cookies—and Other Holiday Numbers from the White House
The holiday season at the White House involves a lot of extra work for some folks, particularly those in the kitchen.
92—Volunteers helping to decorate the White House
60,000—Guests touring the White House during the holidays
21—Number of holiday receptions
4—Number of holiday dinners
1,250,000—Number of Christmas Cards from President and Mrs. Bush
27—Number of Christmas trees from North Carolina
369—Number of hand-decorated ornaments on Blue Room Christmas tree
780—Feet of Garland
232—Wreaths
412—Poinsettias
22,000—Holiday cookies
250—Coconut cakes
3,000—Grapefruits
600—Pounds of asparagus
300—Pounds of cheesy stone-ground grits
700—Gallons of eggnog
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