Photo by Rhonda Lane/ Dec. 2008
How do you suppose the White House receives its official Christmas tree? Delivered by flatbed truck? Airlifted by Sea Stallion helicopter?
Well, the latter comes a bit closer, but only in a manner of speaking. And only if you stretch the pun beyond taste and comprehension.
Horses, real ones, are involved in a traditional procession in which the massive fir tree is presented to the First Lady.
Presenting the White House Tree to the First Lady
White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian/ November 2008
Sue Harmon, of Harmon’s Hayrides, drove the team of Belgians up the driveway to the North Portico.
Dempsey and Karry, the matched team — that may be Karry on the far side? — made an encore appearance after their first tree presentation last year.
According to this article in the Culpepper Star-Express, they carted the team around the block, from the south lawn to the North Portico.
Our friend at Simply Marvelous has a truly marvelous story, complete with grooming photos, about the team’s first appearance about a year ago.
The 20-foot North Carolina Fraser fir, said to weigh about half a ton, will stand in the center of the White House’s Blue Room and is considered the White House’s main tree.
White House photo by Chris Greenberg/November 2008
You’ll probably be able to watch a snippet of the ceremony on the cable TV channel HGTV .
Its White House Christmas special will air in 2008 on Dec. 17, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Check the website for local airing times.
Most of the show will likely be given to the artisans who crafted the decorations and installed the decorations, but HGTV usually shows some footage of the tree presentation.
Just in case you do tune in, but blink and miss it, here’s another opportunity to see Karry and Dempsey in action, a video of the 2008 tree presentation. The horses enter about one minute in.
Say, weren’t you there?
The photo at the top of this post makes it look that way. The sky even looks the same shade of dreary as in those White House photos taken earlier in the week.
But I was in Washington a few days later for a Mystery Writers of America Mid-Atlantic meeting.
I had a few hours free before the meeting, so I went for a walk downtown. I especially wanted to see Pennsylvania Avenue since its complete transformation into a pedestrian thoroughfare.
Too bad I didn’t spot any of the US Parks Service mounted police.
Tags: Belgian horses, DC, Washington, White House, White House Christmas tree
December 18th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
It’s nice to know that in this crazy world, traditions like this still stand strong and I hope this one stays true!
December 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
So do I. So much of Christmas in the White House has changed in the past seven years. For example, I had the good fortune in the mid-90s to be able to line up with other tourists to see the White House Christmas decorations. But those days of spontaneity are gone. It now takes calls to Congressmen, months in advance — if you can get in at all.