Saturday, December 16th, 2023
Holidaze in the White House
A St. Henry couple attended the White House's holiday party
By Erin Gardner
Submitted Photo
Meredith and Andy Rosenbeck traveled to Washington to attend the annual holiday party at the White House. Each room was uniquely decorated to celebrate the festivities.
ST. HENRY - For Meredith and Andy Rosenbeck, Christmas parties in Ohio are tough acts to follow as they've just returned from the White House's holiday party.
"You're standing there, having a glass of champagne with your husband and you're just like, 'Think about the people who have been in this house, historical figures who have had an impact on history in our country,'" Meredith said. "We're standing here on hallowed ground. It kind of overwhelms you."
Meredith and her husband, Andy, were personally invited to the private party, where each room was lavishly and meticulously decorated to welcome the holiday season.
The 41-year-old St. Henry resident is the chief executive officer of Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sending veterans to national memorials. As part of her job, she secures funding for the trips so veterans travel free.
Submitted Photo
Each room in the White House was uniquely decorated to celebrate the festivities.
In May and November, Meredith traveled to the White House to attend a breakfast for veterans. While there, an Honor Flight contact who works at the White House invited her, a board chair and their spouses to the annual party.
She said the invitation was a complete shock as she's only been to Washington twice, and the trips barred none to the extravagant decorations and fantastic food.
"Every single room was decorated to the nines," she said.
This year's theme for the party was "Magic, Wonder and Joy," which Meredith said was meant to elicit the child-like awe associated with the holidays. Each room was uniquely decorated to evoke specific childhood memories, such as lying down and looking up at the lights on the Christmas tree or desperately trying to stay awake to catch a glimpse of Santa.
For example, the first Christmas tree featured inside the White House is adorned with wooden Gold Star ornaments that are engraved with the names of fallen service members, according to the White House.
At the center of the Vermeil Room is a mechanical theater creation with rotating United States Marine Band figures. Flanking the stage are Christmas trees draped with instruments and snare drums. The China Room is brightly decorated as a sweet shop, complete with cakes and gingerbread cookies.
Submitted Photo
The Blue Room features the official "White House Christmas Tree," which is an 18 1/2-foot Fraser Fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina, and stands floor to ceiling.
The Blue Room features the office "White House Christmas Tree," which is an 181/2-foot Fraser Fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina, and stands floor to ceiling, filling the oval room, per the White House. Every year, the room's chandelier is removed to accommodate the Christmas tree's full height. Additionally, there is an annual gingerbread White House where the display includes a sugar cookie replica of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."
Andy, who is senior vice president of Citizens National Bank's Celina branch, said it was especially awesome to see the amount of history and artifacts on display, mixed in with the Christmas decorations.
"We have photos of the fine china from George Washington, what he used, or Abe Lincoln, what he used, mixed in with obviously the Christmas decorations. You got to see that history," he said.
Because this was a special event, attendees were permitted to bring their phones but had to go through security. As Meredith and Andy toured each room, active duty service members shared historical tidbits.
"For instance, there's a yellow room and one of the president's wives didn't like that room very much," Meredith said. "She got rid of all the furniture in that room. When Jackie Kennedy came into the White House, she thought it was tragic the furniture was no longer in that room because it fit the room so well. She actually hired a historian to try to go out and find it and they did; they found some of the pieces that were original to that room in a storage unit in Detroit or something. A Ford dealership owner had bought it and put it in a storage unit."
Submitted Photo
Pictured above is the gingerbread White House creation, which includes 40 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 40 sheets of gingerbread dough, 90 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate and 50 pounds of royal icing.
Meredith said the food served during the party was uniquely elegant, mirroring the atmosphere.
She and Andy feasted on shrimp, crab claws, salmon, beef tenderloin, cookies, champagne, egg nog and wine, although it was a challenge to manage their nervous, giddy energy.
"It's so overwhelming to be there that it's hard to eat … because you're just so nervous," Meredith said. "It's a good nervous energy."
Submitted Photo
Meredith Rosenbeck is pictured with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden earlier this year.
Halfway through the party, Meredith said President Joe Biden greeted everyone, wished them happy holidays and expressed his optimism for 2024, for the country and the economy.
Andy, enjoying his first visit to the White House, said the experience was "a little bit overwhelming, but spectacular and awesome."
Meredith said walking around the White House with her husband was the "absolute best date night you could possibly ever imagine."
As exciting as the trip was, Meredith and Andy said they are both glad to be back home, far from the busy city traffic.
Submitted Photo
Meredith and Andy Rosenbeck inside the White House.
The Honor Flight Network, founded in 2005, honors veterans by sending them to Washington to visit memorials alongside other veterans and companions, Meredith said.
"It's really an experience," she said. "Some of our veterans have actually been to the memorials previously, but never with other veterans. It allows them an opportunity to share their stories with each other, to spend the day together. It's just a different experience for the veterans to go together to the memorials."
The main demographic the organization serves is Vietnam veterans because World War II and Korean War veterans are getting older.
Meredith said it is especially rewarding to honor Vietnam veterans in this way because they never received a proper welcome home.
"That war was so politically charged that, in fact, a lot of them were actually mistreated when they returned back to the United States, having gone to serve their country in the interest of what their country wanted at that time," she said. "It warms my heart to finally be able to give our Vietnam veterans a true welcome home from a grateful nation. My grandfather was a World War II veteran; he was a proud, proud veteran all of his life. I feel like some of our Vietnam veterans still to this day don't even want to acknowledge that they were a Vietnam veteran. This trip sometimes allows them that opportunity to finally get that thanks that they deserve."
The veterans travel with a guardian and will typically fly to Washington visiting Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Air Force, Vietnam, Korean, Lincoln and World War II memorials. Upon returning to the airport, they're usually met by a welcoming committee.
"I love it because there are so few things anymore that you can take your family to go do," she said. "To show your respect for our veterans, but to go out together and do that as a family, I love that we still have that opportunity for people to come together in a physical place."
Three hubs serve Mercer County: Flag City Honor Flight out of Toledo Airport, Northeast Indiana Honor Flight out of Fort Wayne Airport and Honor Flight Dayton.
Meredith has been CEO since the summer of 2018 and has loved every minute of the job.
"It's so rewarding to be in a job where even when things get frustrating, I can say I'm doing this for our veterans so that they can be honored and they can have that moment where they know that we are a grateful nation," she said.
The White House's holiday party by the numbers:
• Approximately 14,975 feet of ribbon, 350 candles, 33,892 ornaments, and over 22,100 bells were used this year to decorate the White House.
• There are 98 Christmas trees throughout the White House complex.
• Over 142,425 holiday lights decorate the trees, garlands, wreaths and displays in the White House.
• It takes over 300 dedicated volunteers working a full week to decorate.
- The White House
