First lady Jill Biden unveiled the 2022 White House Christmas theme Monday, and it has a decidedly Philadelphia bend.
The theme, "We the People," pays homage to the nation's founding on ornaments, wreaths, trees, lighting displays, and in a miniature replica of Independence Hall made out of sugar cookies.
"The soul of our nation is, and always has been, 'We the People,'" Biden said in prepared remarks released by the White House. "And that is what inspired this year's White House holiday decoration."
The Independence Hall cookie construction sits beside the traditional White House made out of gingerbread on the eagle pier table in the State Dining Room. The gingerbread White House creation includes 20 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 30 sheets of gingerbread dough, 100 pounds of sugar paste, 30 pounds of chocolate and 40 pounds of royal icing.
This year, the White House Christmas tree also has Philadelphia roots. An 18-and-a-half-foot Concolor Fir from Schuylkill County stands floor-to-ceiling in the White House's Blue Room. It comes from Evergreen Acres Christmas Tree Farm in Auburn, owned by the Shealer family. There are 77 Christmas trees and more than 83,615 holiday lights decorating the White House.
Biden picked the theme in the spring, and a team of 150 volunteers from across the country worked over the last week to decorate for a holiday season in which the White House typically receives about 50,000 visitors.
A new addition this year is a menorah in the Cross Hall. It's made out of wood removed from the White House during a President Harry Truman-era renovation to the building in the 1950s.
