Aspiring Writers Christmas 2007 Edition
Holiday in Our National Parks
| White Wolf |
Brown bear of Kodiak and
other places.
other places.
Mrs. Bush's Remarks at a Media Preview of the 2007
Holiday Decorations
State Floor
White House News
10:32 A.M. EST
MRS. BUSH: Now I'm coming in to join the pastry chef.
(Laughter.)
MR. YOSSES: Good morning, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: Good morning, how are you, Bill?
MR. YOSSES: I'm fine, how are you today?
MRS. BUSH: I think you all have seen how fabulous the
gingerbread house is. And we might call it the White
Chocolate House, although gingerbread is the
structure inside that holds it up; Bill probably told you.
This is the south entrance with the big columns and
the stairway, the double stairway that goes up. And
since this year's theme is the national parks, the
animals who are around the base of the gingerbread
are animals that you might see if you visit some of our
national parks. We have foxes and special sheep that
we would see if we were in Alaska -- bears, coyote -- a
lot of things that I think you can see. And then
obviously, the beautiful bird tree with the Bald Eagle on
the very top. I hope you can get a close-up picture of it,
because it's so beautiful. And then Barney and Beazley
are in the sleigh, and Kitty will be joining them soon, as
soon as Bill makes a kitty to go there. (Laughter.)
But this is the room, obviously, that the big buffet is in,
that we do the dinner parties in. And you can see here
how Cris has set up the buffet table, and so I'll join Cris
over here. Thank you so much, Bill.
MR. YOSSESS: Thank you, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: And Bill will be available for more
questions later, if you have some for him.
You all are going to be able to sample this beautiful
buffet in a minute. This will, of course, also be served
to many of you when you come to the two press
parties that are later on the schedule this month.
We host a lot of people, I think, really almost 20,000
people will come through either to a dinner party or a
reception and see the White House. And then probably
about 60,000 people will actually come through the
White House during the holiday season with all the
tours and the open houses and all the different people
that come through at various times.
So Cris, as you can tell, has to do a lot of work
between now and the last party, which I think is
December 18th, is that right?
MS. COMERFORD: December 18th, yes.
MRS. BUSH: So between now and December 18th, Cris
will really be cooking. (Laughter.) And you can see
what a really beautiful buffet it is.
This year, because we're celebrating America's
national parks, in the lead-up to the National Park
centennial, the centennial of the National Park Service
itself in 2016, we thought -- we think that our national
parks are more precious than gold to the United
States. They're our major and most fabulous and
magnificent landscapes, from Yosemite to Denali to
the Everglades. But they're also our sacred historical
sites. The White House is a national park;
Independence Hall; the Martin Luther King Center in
Atlanta -- many, many very important sites to our
history are also our national parks.
And since gold works so well in the White House
because of all the draperies and because of the major
collection of vermeil that the White House was given,
we thought it would be fun to use these big pieces.
And you can see the plateau on this table, the mirrored
piece that's running down the Dining Room table this
year. James Monroe brought that to the White House
from France, and so it's a very historic piece, and it's
interesting and fun to be able to use it with our
decorations and with our celebration of the national
parks.
I know you're going to have a chance in a minute to
ask Cris more questions. I don't know if you want to
visit with her now while we get ready to set up for the
next site.
Cris Comerford, our executive chef.
MS. COMERFORD: Hi, good morning. And since we're
highlighting all of our national parks, also in
conjunction with that, we'd like to highlight a lot of the
different local and regional cuisines. And as you see,
we start off there with a lot of artisanal and local
cheeses from Virginia. We do have some cheeses
also from Vermont and Hudson Valley in New York.
And going down the buffet here, we're featuring some
smoked salmon from Belfast, Maine, and also some
wonderful crabcakes, of course. These are local from
Maryland. And we do have some wonderful dry cured
ham from Virginia also. And what more is a good
holiday without your chicken fried steak that has to
come back -- I think this is our second season this
year, because by popular demand, they love it so
much.
And going all the way down, tamales with a black bean
sauce is always a good Christmas tradition, especially
in the South. And of course, we're featuring a lot of
good spiced gulf shrimp with remoulade and cocktail
sauce.
Thank you.
* * * * *
MRS. BUSH: Well, we're here in front of the major
White House Christmas tree. The big Christmas tree in
the White House is always here in the Blue Room. We
have to remove the chandelier from the top of the tree
because the tree -- top of the room, because the tree
is so tall, and then the tree is secured up there where
the chandelier would hang.
This year, because we are celebrating our national
parks, we sent big ornaments to all 391 national
parks, and asked them to ask an artist to decorate the
ornament in a way that celebrates that national park.
A lot of people may not know, but the White House is a
national park. All the White House grounds and the
facade of the White House are taken care of by
national park employees. President's Park across the
street, Lafayette Square, is also part of the national
park -- the White House National Park.
So we have this one here. This was the one done by
the White House. When you have a chance to walk
around the tree, you can find your favorite and local
national park, from our most magnificent ones like
Yosemite to Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, to all
the ones that are historical sites, our battlefields,
national monuments.
And this is one of our most recent national parks. It's
the Flight 93 National Memorial. It's at the site near
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed.
And this has just been added as a national memorial
to all of our big park services. This national memorial
site is still raising private money to build a memorial
there. They obviously get appropriations from the
government, but they're also -- the Flight 93 National
Memorial Site is raising private money. So if people
want to give to a national park this year in
commemoration of the people, the heroes on Flight 93,
this might be a good idea, although you can also give
to all your local ones. A lot of them have friends'
groups as well.
So we have about 347 national parks represented on
the tree. Yesterday we invited the artists from around
the country who did these ornaments, and they came
in from all parts of the United States to get to see their
ornament that they decorated on this, the White House
Christmas Tree.
Every year also, the White House Historical
Association does an ornament, and it's very
interesting, I think, that this year's ornament is a
wedding. It's the wedding of Grover Cleveland, the only
President who married while he lived at the White
House.
So if you want to add to your White House historical
collection, that's the ornament for this year.
Okay, you all ready? Move on to the next site.
* * * * *
MS. CLARKE: Hi, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: Hi, Nancy. This is Nancy Clarke, who is the
chief White House florist, and who's been here for
how many years? Almost 40. Is that right?
MS. CLARKE: No.
MRS. BUSH: Oh, no. (Laughter.) Couldn't be that long.
MS. CLARKE: No, actually, this is my 30th Christmas.
MRS. BUSH: 30th Christmas, right.
MS. CLARKE: If you include private time I was a
volunteer.
MRS. BUSH: Great. Nancy and I start to work on the
Christmas decorations about March. It takes us that
long. We think about what the theme will be, and then
we start trying to develop what the decorations will be,
because Nancy and florists and volunteers and a lot of
the White House staff, including the plumbers and the
electricians and the carpenters, build a lot of the
decorations every year.
And I think this is one of the most fabulous parts of
this year's decoration. This is a magnificent painting of
Zion National Park by Adrian Martinez, a Pennsylvania
artist. These -- the White House carpenters built these
frames and built a concave canvas that would fit right
in the niche -- these two niches that are here in the
Cross Hall. So after they built them, then Adrian
Martinez painted these two very magnificent paintings.
This is Zion National Park, Angel Falls; and the other
niche is the Grand Canyon from Hopi Point. And I think
they are really the two magnificent pieces of this
year's decorations.
Nancy and her team of volunteers are the ones who
decorate every one of these trees and string all of
these garlands. They decorated the garlands this year
with the gold leaves, the gold aspen leaves that
represent the Appalachian Trail, and then pine cones,
gold pine cones and seashells that represent how
beautiful our country is from sea to shining sea.
Q Was the national park theme your idea?
MRS. BUSH: It was my idea. I hike in the national parks
every year, and I'm actually Honorary Chairman of the
National Park Foundation. And this year, you'll
discover, when you get to see Barney Cam in a week
or so, Barney and Beazley are going to be sworn in as
National Park Rangers. And of course, their
playground is a national park. So I think it will be really
fun.
I've hiked in the national parks for the last 20 years
with a group of women that I grew up with in Midland.
Q Where did you come up with the idea?
MRS. BUSH: Well, the National Park centennial is going
to be -- the centennial of the National Park Service --
some parks are actually older than that, and were set
aside longer than 100 years ago -- but the centennial
of the National Park Service is in 2016. And the
President has issued a Centennial Challenge, both to
the Congress, for increased funding for the national
parks, and to the private sector for private
philanthropy to match the congressional
appropriations, and then get Congress to match again
so that we can make sure a lot of things that need to
be done in the national parks can be done between
now and the centennial in 2016.
Q Can you get the President to go with you one of
these days on your hiking trips?
MRS. BUSH: That's right, and he's been to many
national parks also as well. But my trips are women's
trips, ladies' trips. We're not quite as tough as he is.
Although we're pretty tough. (Laughter.)
Q Who's involved in doing all of this, all the volunteers?
MRS. BUSH: Well, the volunteers come in from around
the country. Many of them have volunteered for as
long as 25 or 30 years. The woman who makes the
cranberry tree that's traditional in the Red Room, of
course, it's perfect for the Red Room, has done it for --
is it 25 years this year?
MS. CLARKE: Twenty-five years this year, and it was
her 80th birthday this year.
MRS. BUSH: Thanks, everybody.
* * * * *
MRS. BUSH: Happy holidays, everybody. Welcome to
the White House. This year, our theme is "Holidays in
the National Parks." And the national parks are
represented all over the White House, from the east
entrance, when you're greeted with Cape Hatteras
Lighthouse from North Carolina. You walk on in, you
see the fabulous gold leaves of the aspens from the
Appalachian Trail. If you keep going on downstairs on
the ground floor, you'll pass Mount Rushmore. You'll
go by the San Antonio Missions, and then go into the
Palm Room on the far west side that is decorated with
huge shell trees and wreaths of shells represent all of
our national seashores.
But then, when you come upstairs in the Cross Hall,
you're met with that very famous Statue of Liberty. You
may not realize that Ellis Island and the Statue of
Liberty is one of our national parks, but they're there.
And of course, that's what's welcomed immigrants to
the United States for many, many years.
We have, up in the Cross Hall, also two magnificent
paintings by Adrian Martinez, who is here with us
today. One is Zion National Park -- they're set in the
niches in the hall -- and the other one is in the Grand
Canyon. So I hope you'll be able to get some great
pictures of those.
On the way in, when the tourist comes in, walks in,
when the tours or any of the guests, the more than
60,000 guests that will come through the White House
sometime over the holidays, one of the things they'll
see is the original artwork that represent both the
invitation that Adrian painted, the front door of the
White House. This is what's on the White House
invitations for parties this year. Next is David
Drummond, who is a national park artist. He's from
Albuquerque. And he did this beautiful painting of the
sculpture that's in the First Ladies' Garden. The First
Ladies' Garden, which is on the east side, was started,
the landscape architecture of it, was started by
Jacqueline Kennedy, and then completed by Lady Bird
Johnson and named the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden
by Lady Bird Johnson. But David's painting is of the
beautiful little sculpture of a gardener that's there in
that east garden.
The First Ladies' Garden is also one of our national
parks, because all of the grounds of the White House,
and actually even the facade of the White House, is
national park. And national park employees are the
ones who work as the gardeners in the White House,
on the White House lawn and across the street at
President's Park in Lafayette Square.
And then Michael Glenn Monroe did our brochure that
each one of you will get a copy of. He's a children's
book illustrator and author, and also a wildlife artist.
And you can see what a beautiful job he did in that little
painting with the cardinal and the lawn of the White
House.
And I want to thank all three of our artists very much.
They're available to talk to you all and to answer any of
your questions if you have any of them, have any
questions for them.
And then, of course, here's our team that helps us do
all of the entertaining: Cris Comerford, our executive
chef, who devises and plans and cooks the major
buffet that we serve during the holidays, as well as all
of the dinner parties and brunches and all sorts of
other parties that we have during the holidays. And
then Bill Yosses, who is our pastry chef. He's the one
who planned and devised the beautiful gingerbread
house, which I think most of you have gotten footage
of already. It's a white chocolate house this year. And
in the lawn of the White House, you'll see animals that
you might see in our national parks. And Barney and
Beazley, of course, are on the roof in Santa's sleigh.
And then Nancy Clarke is the chief florist at the White
House. She's been here for about 30 years and she is
the one that works with me. We start working, really,
about March to devise the theme of the White House,
and then she and volunteers and members of the
White House staff, like the White House carpenter or
the White House plumbers, build most of these things,
including that big lighthouse that you see on the east
side that the White House plumber built, Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse.
So I hope you all will have a chance to meet with both
of them. I'm going to come over and get a picture with
the artists. Thank you so much, Adrian. Adrian not only
did the invitation, he did the two fabulous paintings of
the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park that are in
the niches of the Cross Hall.
Q Mrs. Bush, how many people come in and out
throughout the holidays? How many visitors do you
have?
MRS. BUSH: We have about 60,000 visitors. These are
people that come to the parties and the receptions
and the open houses and the tours that go on all
during the holiday season. So on any of the days that
there is not an actual party going on on this floor, there
are tours that go through. So people come in and out
and see the White House decorations during the entire
holidays, including up until after Christmas, three
nights of candlelight tours after Christmas.
Q What do you hope to achieve in your last year at the
White House?
MRS. BUSH: Well, a lot of things, Helen. Thank you for
asking. I want to continue working on education. I
hope the No Child Left Behind Act will be reauthorized.
I want to continue to speak out about Burma. I would
love to see some action on the part of the generals
showing that they will let people, including Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, be freed, and
have a chance to have reconciliation and the
democracy that I know the people of Burma want.
So I'll continue to talk about those issues, about a lot
of the really great work the people of the United States
are doing, through their tax dollars, for AIDS, for
instance, and malaria and other diseases across
Africa, but also here in the United States as well.
Q What about the war?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I feel encouraged about what's
happening in Iraq. I hope that by this time next year,
the people of Iraq have been able to reconcile and to
pass the kind of government they want and that things
are totally stable. And we see already that a lot of
people who had left Iraq are trying to come back now
and build their country, and I'm encouraged about that.
Q Do you have a candidate for '08?
MRS. BUSH: I'm for the Republican -- (laughter) --
whichever one wins the nomination.
Q Back on the decorations, what considerations did
you take into -- what did you take into consideration
this year to make it more "green"?
MRS. BUSH: Well, we did what I think a lot of families
around the United States did, and that is, we used
things we already had. These lights, the amber-color
lights, we've had for some number of years in the
White House. We haven't used them in a few years,
but we did -- thought they were perfect with all of the
gold things, the gold leaves and all of the other parts of
the decorations this year. So we recycle that.
Of course, we always recycle some ornaments, like
every family does. These are real trees, and they're
from real Christmas tree growers in the United States.
And these are growers, obviously, who grow trees for
a business and replant after they sell some trees
every year.
Q Mrs. Bush, I know your daughter spent quite a time
in Panama.
MRS. BUSH: That's right.
Q And we'd like to know, is there something you want
to tell to a Latin American audience right now?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I do want to tell them that our
daughter Jenna was very warmly welcomed with
UNICEF when she was in Central and South America
last year. She's written a book about a girl who lives in
Central America who is an AIDS orphan, who also
contracted AIDS at birth. And it's a book for young
people across our whole hemisphere, and also for --
especially for young people in the United States to
become more aware of the problems that young
people face around the world.
Q Mrs. Bush, what about your plans to visit Greece
sometime?
MRS. BUSH: Pardon me?
Q To visit Greece anytime.
MRS. BUSH: Visit where?
Q Greece.
MRS. BUSH: Greece -- oh, I hope I have a chance to
visit Greece. (Laughter.) I hope I will this year. I don't
know if I will. But I have had many opportunities to
travel in Greece before George was President, and so I
hope we'll have a chance to do that this year.
Q What about a wedding here? Are you going to have a
wedding -- a wedding during the --
MRS. BUSH: I'll be announcing Jenna's wedding plans
sometime later, but not at the Christmas decorations.
She actually is still on her book tour. She's in Denver
today on her book tour. And so when she finishes her
book tour, we'll make our plans, and you all will be the
first ones to know. (Laughter.)
Q Mrs. Bush, this is your last -- one of your last
Christmases in Washington --
MRS. BUSH: Next to last.
Q -- in Washington, D.C. I was just in Texas. When you
look back on this time, what will you think made your
time in Washington and the White House so special?
MRS. BUSH: Well, there are certainly all the people that
we've gotten to know so well over the years that we're
here. People that we live with and work with and see
here are friendships that we'll have. Many of them
were friendships we had before from when President
Bush, George's dad, was here. We'll miss them a lot.
But certainly, what has made it by far the most special
is just how terrific the American people are. And
George and I get to see that every single day, both
here in Washington and when we travel around our
country.
And we're very, very encouraged by the spirit of the
American people and the American people's
generosity that we see both every day in our country
and also around the world.
Q Will you miss anything about the city?
MRS. BUSH: About what? The city? I love Washington. I
think Washington is one of the most beautiful cities in
the world. And I've loved having the chance to live in
this magnificent house, and then to have all these
wonderful neighborhood museums. I took Mrs. Olmert
yesterday to the Corcoran Gallery to see the Annie
Leibovitz show when she was in town. And all of these
museums are really what I call my neighborhood
museums. And I can run out quickly and see all the
great shows that are here. And I want to encourage
Washingtonians, as well as American visitors and
international visitors when they come to be sure to go
to all of these wonderful Smithsonian museums that
are here. The Corcoran is a private museum, but of
course, we have all these other Smithsonian
museums that I visit quite often.
Q Mrs. Bush, did you taste the Ukrainian Christmas
dishes, like the (inaudible)?
MRS. BUSH: I think -- doesn't Ukraine also make a very
special cookie?
Q Yes.
MRS. BUSH: Yes, I thought so. You know, there are a
lot of Ukrainian Americans that keep those recipes
alive in their towns around the United States, and so
they really become part of American traditions in
many neighborhoods around the United States.
Q What is your message to military families
(inaudible)?
MRS. BUSH: Well, my message is that we're thinking
about them, we're praying for our troops that are
defending us around the world. George and I do that
every day. A day doesn't go by that we don't think
about both our military who are serving around the
world and about the special burden of worry that's on
their families when they're here at home without their
loved ones. Especially on holidays, we think about the
people who aren't at the table, at the holiday table,
because they're either serving overseas or they were
lost in the war in Afghanistan or Iraq. And we think --
and I know we're joined by all Americans when we
send our special love and respect, both to our troops
and to their families.
Q Do you have any particular special memories about
Christmas in Washington?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I really do. I mean, every single one
of these years -- I remember especially Christmas
2001. That year, Nancy and I had met early in the year
to come up with the Christmas theme and we had
picked "Home for the Holidays." And we had -- the
carpenters and everybody that works on the
decorations had built presidential homes that were on
the mantels, replicas of presidential homes. But as it
turned out, after September -- we'd already picked the
theme, but after September there were those 3,000
people that weren't home for the holidays, whose
families were alone after September 11th. So the
theme had a special poignancy for me.
So I remember that Christmas. But I remember every
one of them, really. I remember the ones that are
funny, like the pets in the White House, all the different
-- the theme that year was "All Creatures Great and
Small." And we had all the different pets that have
lived here, before Barney and Beazley and Miss Kitty.
So that was fun, and it was fun for children. I think
children loved that one, especially.
Q (Inaudible.)
MRS. BUSH: Well, I want to say -- and I know that I'm
joined by everyone in the United States who says this
as well, and that is, all of us really want to see peace.
We want to see a Palestinian free state living in
harmony with Israel. And that's something that we
want. And I really know that Palestinian mothers and
children and Israeli mothers and children want their
children to live free from terrorism. And so I'm
encouraged that they want to come to the negotiating
table. It was very important for this summit in
Annapolis that a lot of people from the international
community came as well. And so my prayer is for
peace in the Middle East.
Q What's unique about Christmas in Washington?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I think there are a lot of things that
are really fun, and that is, of course, the way that all
the different monuments and the White House are
decorated. There is an ice-skating rink, if we get cold
enough weather, right here across the street, sort of
down and across the street from the Willard Hotel.
And when we lived here in 1986 -- '87 and '88 when we
were here with Mr. Bush's campaign, I would bring
Barbara and Jenna down to ice skate on that
ice-skating rink, and that was fun. That's a very happy
memory of mine from those years.
Q Is there any achievement you want to be
remembered for when you leave the White House?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I hope that I'll be remembered for my
love of children; I think people know that, that I spent
my career as a teacher and a librarian, and that while
I've had the chance to live here, I've worked on a lot of
issues that had to do with children -- American
children, as well as children around the world.
So thanks, everybody. Merry Christmas, happy
holidays. Now our artists and our team over here are
also available if you have any questions.
Merry Christmas.
Holiday Decorations
State Floor
White House News
10:32 A.M. EST
MRS. BUSH: Now I'm coming in to join the pastry chef.
(Laughter.)
MR. YOSSES: Good morning, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: Good morning, how are you, Bill?
MR. YOSSES: I'm fine, how are you today?
MRS. BUSH: I think you all have seen how fabulous the
gingerbread house is. And we might call it the White
Chocolate House, although gingerbread is the
structure inside that holds it up; Bill probably told you.
This is the south entrance with the big columns and
the stairway, the double stairway that goes up. And
since this year's theme is the national parks, the
animals who are around the base of the gingerbread
are animals that you might see if you visit some of our
national parks. We have foxes and special sheep that
we would see if we were in Alaska -- bears, coyote -- a
lot of things that I think you can see. And then
obviously, the beautiful bird tree with the Bald Eagle on
the very top. I hope you can get a close-up picture of it,
because it's so beautiful. And then Barney and Beazley
are in the sleigh, and Kitty will be joining them soon, as
soon as Bill makes a kitty to go there. (Laughter.)
But this is the room, obviously, that the big buffet is in,
that we do the dinner parties in. And you can see here
how Cris has set up the buffet table, and so I'll join Cris
over here. Thank you so much, Bill.
MR. YOSSESS: Thank you, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: And Bill will be available for more
questions later, if you have some for him.
You all are going to be able to sample this beautiful
buffet in a minute. This will, of course, also be served
to many of you when you come to the two press
parties that are later on the schedule this month.
We host a lot of people, I think, really almost 20,000
people will come through either to a dinner party or a
reception and see the White House. And then probably
about 60,000 people will actually come through the
White House during the holiday season with all the
tours and the open houses and all the different people
that come through at various times.
So Cris, as you can tell, has to do a lot of work
between now and the last party, which I think is
December 18th, is that right?
MS. COMERFORD: December 18th, yes.
MRS. BUSH: So between now and December 18th, Cris
will really be cooking. (Laughter.) And you can see
what a really beautiful buffet it is.
This year, because we're celebrating America's
national parks, in the lead-up to the National Park
centennial, the centennial of the National Park Service
itself in 2016, we thought -- we think that our national
parks are more precious than gold to the United
States. They're our major and most fabulous and
magnificent landscapes, from Yosemite to Denali to
the Everglades. But they're also our sacred historical
sites. The White House is a national park;
Independence Hall; the Martin Luther King Center in
Atlanta -- many, many very important sites to our
history are also our national parks.
And since gold works so well in the White House
because of all the draperies and because of the major
collection of vermeil that the White House was given,
we thought it would be fun to use these big pieces.
And you can see the plateau on this table, the mirrored
piece that's running down the Dining Room table this
year. James Monroe brought that to the White House
from France, and so it's a very historic piece, and it's
interesting and fun to be able to use it with our
decorations and with our celebration of the national
parks.
I know you're going to have a chance in a minute to
ask Cris more questions. I don't know if you want to
visit with her now while we get ready to set up for the
next site.
Cris Comerford, our executive chef.
MS. COMERFORD: Hi, good morning. And since we're
highlighting all of our national parks, also in
conjunction with that, we'd like to highlight a lot of the
different local and regional cuisines. And as you see,
we start off there with a lot of artisanal and local
cheeses from Virginia. We do have some cheeses
also from Vermont and Hudson Valley in New York.
And going down the buffet here, we're featuring some
smoked salmon from Belfast, Maine, and also some
wonderful crabcakes, of course. These are local from
Maryland. And we do have some wonderful dry cured
ham from Virginia also. And what more is a good
holiday without your chicken fried steak that has to
come back -- I think this is our second season this
year, because by popular demand, they love it so
much.
And going all the way down, tamales with a black bean
sauce is always a good Christmas tradition, especially
in the South. And of course, we're featuring a lot of
good spiced gulf shrimp with remoulade and cocktail
sauce.
Thank you.
* * * * *
MRS. BUSH: Well, we're here in front of the major
White House Christmas tree. The big Christmas tree in
the White House is always here in the Blue Room. We
have to remove the chandelier from the top of the tree
because the tree -- top of the room, because the tree
is so tall, and then the tree is secured up there where
the chandelier would hang.
This year, because we are celebrating our national
parks, we sent big ornaments to all 391 national
parks, and asked them to ask an artist to decorate the
ornament in a way that celebrates that national park.
A lot of people may not know, but the White House is a
national park. All the White House grounds and the
facade of the White House are taken care of by
national park employees. President's Park across the
street, Lafayette Square, is also part of the national
park -- the White House National Park.
So we have this one here. This was the one done by
the White House. When you have a chance to walk
around the tree, you can find your favorite and local
national park, from our most magnificent ones like
Yosemite to Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, to all
the ones that are historical sites, our battlefields,
national monuments.
And this is one of our most recent national parks. It's
the Flight 93 National Memorial. It's at the site near
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed.
And this has just been added as a national memorial
to all of our big park services. This national memorial
site is still raising private money to build a memorial
there. They obviously get appropriations from the
government, but they're also -- the Flight 93 National
Memorial Site is raising private money. So if people
want to give to a national park this year in
commemoration of the people, the heroes on Flight 93,
this might be a good idea, although you can also give
to all your local ones. A lot of them have friends'
groups as well.
So we have about 347 national parks represented on
the tree. Yesterday we invited the artists from around
the country who did these ornaments, and they came
in from all parts of the United States to get to see their
ornament that they decorated on this, the White House
Christmas Tree.
Every year also, the White House Historical
Association does an ornament, and it's very
interesting, I think, that this year's ornament is a
wedding. It's the wedding of Grover Cleveland, the only
President who married while he lived at the White
House.
So if you want to add to your White House historical
collection, that's the ornament for this year.
Okay, you all ready? Move on to the next site.
* * * * *
MS. CLARKE: Hi, Mrs. Bush.
MRS. BUSH: Hi, Nancy. This is Nancy Clarke, who is the
chief White House florist, and who's been here for
how many years? Almost 40. Is that right?
MS. CLARKE: No.
MRS. BUSH: Oh, no. (Laughter.) Couldn't be that long.
MS. CLARKE: No, actually, this is my 30th Christmas.
MRS. BUSH: 30th Christmas, right.
MS. CLARKE: If you include private time I was a
volunteer.
MRS. BUSH: Great. Nancy and I start to work on the
Christmas decorations about March. It takes us that
long. We think about what the theme will be, and then
we start trying to develop what the decorations will be,
because Nancy and florists and volunteers and a lot of
the White House staff, including the plumbers and the
electricians and the carpenters, build a lot of the
decorations every year.
And I think this is one of the most fabulous parts of
this year's decoration. This is a magnificent painting of
Zion National Park by Adrian Martinez, a Pennsylvania
artist. These -- the White House carpenters built these
frames and built a concave canvas that would fit right
in the niche -- these two niches that are here in the
Cross Hall. So after they built them, then Adrian
Martinez painted these two very magnificent paintings.
This is Zion National Park, Angel Falls; and the other
niche is the Grand Canyon from Hopi Point. And I think
they are really the two magnificent pieces of this
year's decorations.
Nancy and her team of volunteers are the ones who
decorate every one of these trees and string all of
these garlands. They decorated the garlands this year
with the gold leaves, the gold aspen leaves that
represent the Appalachian Trail, and then pine cones,
gold pine cones and seashells that represent how
beautiful our country is from sea to shining sea.
Q Was the national park theme your idea?
MRS. BUSH: It was my idea. I hike in the national parks
every year, and I'm actually Honorary Chairman of the
National Park Foundation. And this year, you'll
discover, when you get to see Barney Cam in a week
or so, Barney and Beazley are going to be sworn in as
National Park Rangers. And of course, their
playground is a national park. So I think it will be really
fun.
I've hiked in the national parks for the last 20 years
with a group of women that I grew up with in Midland.
Q Where did you come up with the idea?
MRS. BUSH: Well, the National Park centennial is going
to be -- the centennial of the National Park Service --
some parks are actually older than that, and were set
aside longer than 100 years ago -- but the centennial
of the National Park Service is in 2016. And the
President has issued a Centennial Challenge, both to
the Congress, for increased funding for the national
parks, and to the private sector for private
philanthropy to match the congressional
appropriations, and then get Congress to match again
so that we can make sure a lot of things that need to
be done in the national parks can be done between
now and the centennial in 2016.
Q Can you get the President to go with you one of
these days on your hiking trips?
MRS. BUSH: That's right, and he's been to many
national parks also as well. But my trips are women's
trips, ladies' trips. We're not quite as tough as he is.
Although we're pretty tough. (Laughter.)
Q Who's involved in doing all of this, all the volunteers?
MRS. BUSH: Well, the volunteers come in from around
the country. Many of them have volunteered for as
long as 25 or 30 years. The woman who makes the
cranberry tree that's traditional in the Red Room, of
course, it's perfect for the Red Room, has done it for --
is it 25 years this year?
MS. CLARKE: Twenty-five years this year, and it was
her 80th birthday this year.
MRS. BUSH: Thanks, everybody.
* * * * *
MRS. BUSH: Happy holidays, everybody. Welcome to
the White House. This year, our theme is "Holidays in
the National Parks." And the national parks are
represented all over the White House, from the east
entrance, when you're greeted with Cape Hatteras
Lighthouse from North Carolina. You walk on in, you
see the fabulous gold leaves of the aspens from the
Appalachian Trail. If you keep going on downstairs on
the ground floor, you'll pass Mount Rushmore. You'll
go by the San Antonio Missions, and then go into the
Palm Room on the far west side that is decorated with
huge shell trees and wreaths of shells represent all of
our national seashores.
But then, when you come upstairs in the Cross Hall,
you're met with that very famous Statue of Liberty. You
may not realize that Ellis Island and the Statue of
Liberty is one of our national parks, but they're there.
And of course, that's what's welcomed immigrants to
the United States for many, many years.
We have, up in the Cross Hall, also two magnificent
paintings by Adrian Martinez, who is here with us
today. One is Zion National Park -- they're set in the
niches in the hall -- and the other one is in the Grand
Canyon. So I hope you'll be able to get some great
pictures of those.
On the way in, when the tourist comes in, walks in,
when the tours or any of the guests, the more than
60,000 guests that will come through the White House
sometime over the holidays, one of the things they'll
see is the original artwork that represent both the
invitation that Adrian painted, the front door of the
White House. This is what's on the White House
invitations for parties this year. Next is David
Drummond, who is a national park artist. He's from
Albuquerque. And he did this beautiful painting of the
sculpture that's in the First Ladies' Garden. The First
Ladies' Garden, which is on the east side, was started,
the landscape architecture of it, was started by
Jacqueline Kennedy, and then completed by Lady Bird
Johnson and named the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden
by Lady Bird Johnson. But David's painting is of the
beautiful little sculpture of a gardener that's there in
that east garden.
The First Ladies' Garden is also one of our national
parks, because all of the grounds of the White House,
and actually even the facade of the White House, is
national park. And national park employees are the
ones who work as the gardeners in the White House,
on the White House lawn and across the street at
President's Park in Lafayette Square.
And then Michael Glenn Monroe did our brochure that
each one of you will get a copy of. He's a children's
book illustrator and author, and also a wildlife artist.
And you can see what a beautiful job he did in that little
painting with the cardinal and the lawn of the White
House.
And I want to thank all three of our artists very much.
They're available to talk to you all and to answer any of
your questions if you have any of them, have any
questions for them.
And then, of course, here's our team that helps us do
all of the entertaining: Cris Comerford, our executive
chef, who devises and plans and cooks the major
buffet that we serve during the holidays, as well as all
of the dinner parties and brunches and all sorts of
other parties that we have during the holidays. And
then Bill Yosses, who is our pastry chef. He's the one
who planned and devised the beautiful gingerbread
house, which I think most of you have gotten footage
of already. It's a white chocolate house this year. And
in the lawn of the White House, you'll see animals that
you might see in our national parks. And Barney and
Beazley, of course, are on the roof in Santa's sleigh.
And then Nancy Clarke is the chief florist at the White
House. She's been here for about 30 years and she is
the one that works with me. We start working, really,
about March to devise the theme of the White House,
and then she and volunteers and members of the
White House staff, like the White House carpenter or
the White House plumbers, build most of these things,
including that big lighthouse that you see on the east
side that the White House plumber built, Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse.
So I hope you all will have a chance to meet with both
of them. I'm going to come over and get a picture with
the artists. Thank you so much, Adrian. Adrian not only
did the invitation, he did the two fabulous paintings of
the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park that are in
the niches of the Cross Hall.
Q Mrs. Bush, how many people come in and out
throughout the holidays? How many visitors do you
have?
MRS. BUSH: We have about 60,000 visitors. These are
people that come to the parties and the receptions
and the open houses and the tours that go on all
during the holiday season. So on any of the days that
there is not an actual party going on on this floor, there
are tours that go through. So people come in and out
and see the White House decorations during the entire
holidays, including up until after Christmas, three
nights of candlelight tours after Christmas.
Q What do you hope to achieve in your last year at the
White House?
MRS. BUSH: Well, a lot of things, Helen. Thank you for
asking. I want to continue working on education. I
hope the No Child Left Behind Act will be reauthorized.
I want to continue to speak out about Burma. I would
love to see some action on the part of the generals
showing that they will let people, including Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, be freed, and
have a chance to have reconciliation and the
democracy that I know the people of Burma want.
So I'll continue to talk about those issues, about a lot
of the really great work the people of the United States
are doing, through their tax dollars, for AIDS, for
instance, and malaria and other diseases across
Africa, but also here in the United States as well.
Q What about the war?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I feel encouraged about what's
happening in Iraq. I hope that by this time next year,
the people of Iraq have been able to reconcile and to
pass the kind of government they want and that things
are totally stable. And we see already that a lot of
people who had left Iraq are trying to come back now
and build their country, and I'm encouraged about that.
Q Do you have a candidate for '08?
MRS. BUSH: I'm for the Republican -- (laughter) --
whichever one wins the nomination.
Q Back on the decorations, what considerations did
you take into -- what did you take into consideration
this year to make it more "green"?
MRS. BUSH: Well, we did what I think a lot of families
around the United States did, and that is, we used
things we already had. These lights, the amber-color
lights, we've had for some number of years in the
White House. We haven't used them in a few years,
but we did -- thought they were perfect with all of the
gold things, the gold leaves and all of the other parts of
the decorations this year. So we recycle that.
Of course, we always recycle some ornaments, like
every family does. These are real trees, and they're
from real Christmas tree growers in the United States.
And these are growers, obviously, who grow trees for
a business and replant after they sell some trees
every year.
Q Mrs. Bush, I know your daughter spent quite a time
in Panama.
MRS. BUSH: That's right.
Q And we'd like to know, is there something you want
to tell to a Latin American audience right now?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I do want to tell them that our
daughter Jenna was very warmly welcomed with
UNICEF when she was in Central and South America
last year. She's written a book about a girl who lives in
Central America who is an AIDS orphan, who also
contracted AIDS at birth. And it's a book for young
people across our whole hemisphere, and also for --
especially for young people in the United States to
become more aware of the problems that young
people face around the world.
Q Mrs. Bush, what about your plans to visit Greece
sometime?
MRS. BUSH: Pardon me?
Q To visit Greece anytime.
MRS. BUSH: Visit where?
Q Greece.
MRS. BUSH: Greece -- oh, I hope I have a chance to
visit Greece. (Laughter.) I hope I will this year. I don't
know if I will. But I have had many opportunities to
travel in Greece before George was President, and so I
hope we'll have a chance to do that this year.
Q What about a wedding here? Are you going to have a
wedding -- a wedding during the --
MRS. BUSH: I'll be announcing Jenna's wedding plans
sometime later, but not at the Christmas decorations.
She actually is still on her book tour. She's in Denver
today on her book tour. And so when she finishes her
book tour, we'll make our plans, and you all will be the
first ones to know. (Laughter.)
Q Mrs. Bush, this is your last -- one of your last
Christmases in Washington --
MRS. BUSH: Next to last.
Q -- in Washington, D.C. I was just in Texas. When you
look back on this time, what will you think made your
time in Washington and the White House so special?
MRS. BUSH: Well, there are certainly all the people that
we've gotten to know so well over the years that we're
here. People that we live with and work with and see
here are friendships that we'll have. Many of them
were friendships we had before from when President
Bush, George's dad, was here. We'll miss them a lot.
But certainly, what has made it by far the most special
is just how terrific the American people are. And
George and I get to see that every single day, both
here in Washington and when we travel around our
country.
And we're very, very encouraged by the spirit of the
American people and the American people's
generosity that we see both every day in our country
and also around the world.
Q Will you miss anything about the city?
MRS. BUSH: About what? The city? I love Washington. I
think Washington is one of the most beautiful cities in
the world. And I've loved having the chance to live in
this magnificent house, and then to have all these
wonderful neighborhood museums. I took Mrs. Olmert
yesterday to the Corcoran Gallery to see the Annie
Leibovitz show when she was in town. And all of these
museums are really what I call my neighborhood
museums. And I can run out quickly and see all the
great shows that are here. And I want to encourage
Washingtonians, as well as American visitors and
international visitors when they come to be sure to go
to all of these wonderful Smithsonian museums that
are here. The Corcoran is a private museum, but of
course, we have all these other Smithsonian
museums that I visit quite often.
Q Mrs. Bush, did you taste the Ukrainian Christmas
dishes, like the (inaudible)?
MRS. BUSH: I think -- doesn't Ukraine also make a very
special cookie?
Q Yes.
MRS. BUSH: Yes, I thought so. You know, there are a
lot of Ukrainian Americans that keep those recipes
alive in their towns around the United States, and so
they really become part of American traditions in
many neighborhoods around the United States.
Q What is your message to military families
(inaudible)?
MRS. BUSH: Well, my message is that we're thinking
about them, we're praying for our troops that are
defending us around the world. George and I do that
every day. A day doesn't go by that we don't think
about both our military who are serving around the
world and about the special burden of worry that's on
their families when they're here at home without their
loved ones. Especially on holidays, we think about the
people who aren't at the table, at the holiday table,
because they're either serving overseas or they were
lost in the war in Afghanistan or Iraq. And we think --
and I know we're joined by all Americans when we
send our special love and respect, both to our troops
and to their families.
Q Do you have any particular special memories about
Christmas in Washington?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I really do. I mean, every single one
of these years -- I remember especially Christmas
2001. That year, Nancy and I had met early in the year
to come up with the Christmas theme and we had
picked "Home for the Holidays." And we had -- the
carpenters and everybody that works on the
decorations had built presidential homes that were on
the mantels, replicas of presidential homes. But as it
turned out, after September -- we'd already picked the
theme, but after September there were those 3,000
people that weren't home for the holidays, whose
families were alone after September 11th. So the
theme had a special poignancy for me.
So I remember that Christmas. But I remember every
one of them, really. I remember the ones that are
funny, like the pets in the White House, all the different
-- the theme that year was "All Creatures Great and
Small." And we had all the different pets that have
lived here, before Barney and Beazley and Miss Kitty.
So that was fun, and it was fun for children. I think
children loved that one, especially.
Q (Inaudible.)
MRS. BUSH: Well, I want to say -- and I know that I'm
joined by everyone in the United States who says this
as well, and that is, all of us really want to see peace.
We want to see a Palestinian free state living in
harmony with Israel. And that's something that we
want. And I really know that Palestinian mothers and
children and Israeli mothers and children want their
children to live free from terrorism. And so I'm
encouraged that they want to come to the negotiating
table. It was very important for this summit in
Annapolis that a lot of people from the international
community came as well. And so my prayer is for
peace in the Middle East.
Q What's unique about Christmas in Washington?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I think there are a lot of things that
are really fun, and that is, of course, the way that all
the different monuments and the White House are
decorated. There is an ice-skating rink, if we get cold
enough weather, right here across the street, sort of
down and across the street from the Willard Hotel.
And when we lived here in 1986 -- '87 and '88 when we
were here with Mr. Bush's campaign, I would bring
Barbara and Jenna down to ice skate on that
ice-skating rink, and that was fun. That's a very happy
memory of mine from those years.
Q Is there any achievement you want to be
remembered for when you leave the White House?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I hope that I'll be remembered for my
love of children; I think people know that, that I spent
my career as a teacher and a librarian, and that while
I've had the chance to live here, I've worked on a lot of
issues that had to do with children -- American
children, as well as children around the world.
So thanks, everybody. Merry Christmas, happy
holidays. Now our artists and our team over here are
also available if you have any questions.
Merry Christmas.
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