MERIDIAN, ID — The 2019 White House holiday decorations with the theme "Spirit of America" have been unveiled. Volunteers were carefully selected from all over the United States.
One of those volunteers is from the Treasure Valley. Jennie Tanner of Meridian applied to help decorate the White House for the holidays in 2018, but she wasn't selected. This year she was chosen.
Tanner says she already had experience with private consulting and a B.A. in interior design.
"The Monday before Thanksgiving, I was to show up at the White House at 6 a.m, and I decorated all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. My husband and son continued to sight-see," said Tanner.
She helped put up the trees, lights and ornaments. The first day was spent at a warehouse where they went through boxes of decorations from previous years.
"We couldn't tape close the boxes because the (United States) Secret Service would then open each box and sort through to make sure that they passed security before anything was taken into the White House," she said.
Each tree represents a different state.
"It was just stunning, so I think that was my favorite part was just to see the finished product and know that we had all worked so hard," she said.
She flew back home for Thanksgiving. On Sunday, she traveled back to D.C. for a gala, which was hosted by First Lady Melania Trump.
To see the full video released by The White House, head to https://www.whitehouse.gov/christmas.
