As it is the largest room in the White House, the
East Room, is a favorite site for
dancing during holiday parties. Six towering trees glitter with
decorative foliage of white lights and sparkling ornaments of silver
and gold.
Each year, local schoolchildren gather in this very room
to join us for one of our favorite traditions — the President's
reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Upon the East Room's,
mirrored mantels rest magnificent grapevine angels made for the White
House in 1997. The focal point of the East Room, however, is the
traditional White House crèche made in Naples, Italy, in the late
eighteenth century.
If you hear music in the air, it is one of the hundreds of talented groups from across the country who have been invited to add their musical touch to the holiday festivities.
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The crèche was a gift to the White House
from Mrs. Charles Engelhard, Jr., of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and
has been displayed every year since 1967 as part of the holiday
decorations. To ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy
the exquisite gift, a new setting inspired by the Neapolitan displays
in the Baroque Period was created last year.
