By Alyssa Mark, NewsVision Reporter
First Lady Jill Biden joined with military families to help bring in the holiday season with the arrival of the White House’s 2023 Christmas Tree. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force Reserves, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Space Force were represented as part of the First Lady’s joining forces initiative. The effort – first introduced by then-First Lady Michelle Obama and then-Second Lady Biden – seeks to support military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jill Biden Kickstarts the Holiday Season With Military Families and a ‘Magnificent’ Tree
By Asha Taylor
Howard University News Service
Wearing an olive-green dress, matching coat and heels, First Lady Jill Biden walked out of the White House on Monday afternoon to accept this year’s official Christmas tree. She held hands with children from military families invited to the ceremony.
According to the First Lady, the children said that they had “never seen a tree so big.” The children and their families were among a group of invitees escorted through the northwest gate of the White House, as protesters and other people outside the gate were cleared from the area for the annual tree ceremony.
Cline Church Nursery in Fleetwood, North Carolina, delivered the tree, which is about 18½ feet tall. Biden described the tree as “magnificent” in her greetings and wished the nation a happy holiday.
“I just wanna say an early Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving,” she said. “I hope you will all come back during the holidays with your families and join us and come see the tree when it is decorated. So, thank you for being here. Happy Holidays!”
In 1889, the White House received its first Christmas tree when President Benjamin Harrison decorated it for his grandchildren in the second-floor Oval Office. However, the tradition of setting up Christmas trees in the White House did not start until 1966.
Since then, the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) has held competitions to find the official Christmas tree for the White House’s Blue Room. The competition’s purpose includes celebrating outstanding tree production and to “promote and encourage the use of farm-fresh Christmas trees,” according to NCTA rules.
Amber Scott and Alex Church of Cline Church Nursery are celebrating their second win in a row. North Carolina has been the breeding ground for the majority of the winning trees to decorate the nation’s capital and kickstart the holiday season.
Cristina Salazar of Oldcastle, Texas, took a trip to Washington to bring in the holidays with her cousins from Germany and to visit the White House. “We are all in different parts of the country, so just being in one house is really nice,” Salazar said of her family’s plans to gather in Arlington, Virginia.
In regard to the celebration of the White House Christmas tree, Salazar expressed gratitude to the nation’s leaders for maintaining this tradition to “be one with the people.”
As the people of the United States are preparing for the holiday season, many are dedicated to fighting for the liberties of others.
“Right now, my mood is not about Christmas,” said Nadine Seiler, who stood outside the northwest gate for about four hours to protest issues revolving around Israel and Gaza. “I am just here trying to be the voice of people who don’t have one.” Seiler is an American citizen who moved to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago in 1987.
While the Christmas tree was being received, the Secret Service told Seiler and other protesters to relocate temporarily to Lafayette Square.
“Over a million people are being displaced, and they don’t have the luxury of our consumerism about the setting up of a Christmas tree,” Seiler said. “While we are all celebrating, they have nowhere to live.”
Asha Taylor is a reporter for HUNewsService.com.
