Wrangell florist invited to help decorate White House for Christmas

For Artha DeRuyter, flowers have always been a passion. She's owned flower shops in Fairbanks and now Wrangell. Sometimes she operates seasonally - other times, year-round. At one point, she even ran a shop out of her boat in the Wrangell harbor. But now, the lifelong passion is taking her to the White House

Last month, DeRuyter was invited to help decorate the White House for the Christmas season. She will join a team of roughly 300 other volunteers from around the country to - quite literally - deck the halls of democracy in the Christmas spirit.

DeRuyter applied for the position back in August, but didn't think much of it. This was the second time she had applied after not getting accepted when she applied 20 years ago. When she received an email this time with a tentative invitation (pending a background check, of course), DeRuyter was caught off guard.

"It really shocked me," she said. "I kind of had forgotten about it and then I got this email. I almost deleted it!"

Unsurprisingly, the florist has since passed the background check.

She will leave for Washington, D.C., on Nov. 27 and will begin work shortly afterward. The decorating is an all-day affair, starting at 7 a.m. and wrapping up at 5 p.m. from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1. She's not sure yet if she's going to be working on site at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or if she will be stationed in a nearby warehouse doing prep work.

Either way, the Dec. 2 reception for all the decorators ensures that DeRuyter will have a chance to step inside the White House regardless of where she is stationed. She also noted that the White House will serve the decorators breakfasts and lunches every day they are working.

"I'm totally psyched!" she said.

But DeRuyter isn't going to come back to Wrangell as soon as the volunteerism wraps up. On Dec. 3, she and her husband John will attend the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.

There, on the West Lawn of the Capitol, the DeRuyters, alongside 1% of Wrangell's population - students, some parents, borough officials and Forest Service personnel - will watch as the tree harvested from Zarembo Island last month will light up the nation's capital.

Before she heads back to Alaska though, DeRuyter wants to take in all that Washington has to offer.

"I'm born and raised in Fairbanks," she said. "So, a lot of the history I learned about the United States felt really far away." She's only been to Washington once before, and said the city's historic factor was one of the things she enjoyed the most.

This time, though, DeRuyter relishes that she can also enjoy Washington's holiday cheer.

"I'm just excited to see the Christmas decorations," she said.

She also noted that her husband is thrilled to check out the National Air and Space Museum.

Christmas decorations in the White House are run through the Office of the First Lady of the United States. Every year, the First Lady selects a theme and decorators are tasked with transforming that theme into physical decorations.

Last year, Beth Kingston was invited to help decorate the White House. Kingston is an interior decorator who frequently appears on the Home Shopping Network. She described the opportunity as a "once in a lifetime experience."

According to Kingston, the 2023 process was quite the ordeal.

"The volunteers and designers used approximately 14,975 feet of ribbon," she wrote online, "over 350 candles, 33,892 ornaments, and over 22,100 bells in creating the décor theme! 142,425 holiday lights decorate the trees, garlands, wreaths and displays."