FAIRMONT - A Red, White and Blue Christmas" - celebrating the patriotic spirit that unites Americans - is the theme for 2008's White House holiday decorations.
It's fitting that Neal Breitbarth and his daughter, Becky, were among the 60,000 guests touring the White House this season, considering the devotion the family has shown throughout the years to the nation and the Republican Party.
"Everything is just beautiful," Neal said, recalling the difficulty he had leaving the White House last Thursday. "... Having been there with my daughter, it was really moving - one of those memories that will last forever."
Becky, 21, was invited to attend the Holiday Open House for her role in the Republican National Committee during the convention in St. Paul, campaigning this fall and the Minnesota Senate recount.
Before the two even walked through the front door of the White House, they were wowed by the setting.
A detailed description of the decor is available online at www.whitehouse.gov
Nearly 100 people volunteered their time setting up the holiday scenery, which includes two 13-foot tall statues of Uncle Sam that look like giant toy soldiers; 250 poinsettias in the Palm Room, tiered to form two large "trees;" and the official White House Christmas tree - an 18-foot fir tree in the Blue Room.
"We were there for about two hours - it seemed like 15 minutes," Neal said.
The statistics alone are impressive: 780 feet of garland; 232 wreaths; 412 poinsettias; and 27 Christmas trees from North Carolina.
Neal's favorite part was the official White House Christmas tree, which was covered in 369 hand-painted ornaments to represent U.S. congressional districts. He somehow managed to find all of Minnesota's ornaments on the gigantic evergreen.
"It was a trip of a lifetime," said Neal.
His reaction is precisely the reason Becky chose her father - an active member of the Republican Party as a First District delegate and former First District chairman - to accompany her since she could only bring one person.
"I wanted to choose someone who I knew it would mean something to," Becky said. "... My dad's been bringing me to events my whole life, especially political events, so it was time I returned the favor."
"I loved the red, white and blue nutcrackers, but just the sheer volume of all the red, white and blue decorations they had ... was very patriotic," Becky said. "It was a good ending to the campaign season that I worked so hard on and that I know my dad worked so hard on."
She had never visited the White House before. Standing in the historic Red, Blue and Green rooms, the East Wing and the rest of the house was like being on a movie set "because those rooms are so duplicated in the movies, so it was neat to be in the real thing."
And knowing that the current president and his predessors had walked down the same hall was an incredible experience, she said.
