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Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

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White House Turns Magical for Christmas Season

December 16, 2016 By WHC Insider

White House Christmas 2011. CC photo courtesy of Tim Evanson on Flickr.

Visitors can tour the White House year-round, though during the Christmas season welcomes people from around the globe to see a holiday celebration like no other.

The theme for this year is “The Gift of the Holidays,” reflecting on gifts that matter, including “service, friends and family, education and good health,” per the White House press release.

The White House has been transformed into a winter wonderland for the Christmas season, complete with over 6,000 ornaments, 8,000 bows and ribbons, 25,000 yarn pom-poms, and over 50 Lego gingerbread houses. The White House invited 92 volunteers from around the country to assist with decorating this year. Rafanelli Events designed the décor.

Guests will find the White House Gingerbread House weighing in at 150 pounds of gingerbread and 20 pounds of icing. A long-standing tradition during the Christmas season, first ladies Martha Washington and Dolley Madison made a soft version of this cake to treat visitors.

This year, only 10% of the decorations are new, with most being recycled or re-purposed from previous Christmas seasons.

If you wish to tour the White House yourself, you can visit the White House Visitors Office website for more information.

WHC Flashback to Ellis Schafer reflecting on the final Easter Egg Roll of the Obama administration earlier this year.  Schafer is the Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Director of the White House Visitors Office.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Holidays, The First Family, The White House, Washington Events, White House History, White House Staff

Obama Pardons Cobbler and Gobbler In Historic First

November 21, 2012 By WHC Insider

Ready Set Go!

Come tomorrow, Gobbler and Cobbler can rest easy knowing their necks aren’t on the line for Thanksgiving dinner. The two presidential birds were both pardoned minutes ago by President Obama at a ceremony outside the White House’s Rose Garden.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Causes, DC, Holidays, News, The White House, Washington, Washington Events Tagged With: Barack Obama, Cobbler, DC, Entertainment, Gobbler, Media, Thanksgiving, Washington Events

Barring Through Summer Recess

August 16, 2010 By WHC Insider

August recess may be shorter this year, as Nancy Pelosi tweeted everyone had to return, but the District is finally slowing back down to wait out the heat.

Politico (in the first of a proposed three-part series it seems) engages the Capitol Hill bar culture about what happens when tired and thirsty staffers seem to disappear for a few weeks.

Filed Under: DC, Holidays, News Media

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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