WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today met with Mr. Pedro Polanco, 91, and members of his family in Washington, DC.  Mr. Polanco, with the help of an essay written by his son, Dr. Jose Polanco, of Cranston, was selected by the White House from applicants across the nation to help decorate the White House for the 2011 holiday season. 

Mr. Polanco, along with fellow volunteers from across the country, as well as professional designers and florists, has been working since Monday to prepare, hang, and arrange decorations throughout the White House. 

On Wednesday, November 30, Mr. Polanco will attend the first White House holiday party of the season and then sit in on First Lady Michelle Obama’s press preview where she will reveal this year’s Christmas theme (2010’s theme was “Simple Gifts”).  Although this year’s theme is top secret until Wednesday’s announcement, plans have been underway for months and volunteers, including Mr. Polanco, have already been working hundreds of man-hours at the White House to help get it ready for the 2011 holiday season.

“Never in 91 years could I have imagined I would be helping to decorate The White House.  Being born in a small, dirt-road town in the Dominican Republic in 1920, my life has been a long and winding road.  But through all the turns, the road has been full of life,” read the opening of Mr. Polanco’s essay.

“Mr. Polanco’s story is one of family and hard work.  It is heartening to see the dedication his children and family have for him.  It is also great to see Mr. Polanco volunteer his talents along with hundreds of volunteers from across the country to help get the White House ready for the holidays,” said Reed, who helped arrange for the Polancos to have a tour of the U.S. Capitol while they are in Washington, DC.

Last holiday season, as many as 100,000 guests visited the White House, which was festooned with 27 decorated trees, dozens of wreaths, hundreds of pounds of gingerbread, and approximately 2,700 yards of ribbon.

Decorating the White House for the holidays is a long standing tradition.  In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began the tradition of selecting a theme when she decorated a “Nutcracker tree” with toy trimmings from the Nutcracker Suite ballet by Tchaikovsky.  First Lady Pat Nixon began the tradition of selecting volunteers to help decorate the White House during her husband’s administration. 

This year’s official White House Christmas tree, which was delivered to the First Family on Saturday, is an 18 and a half-foot balsam fir that was grown on Tom and Sue Schroeder's farm in Marquette County, Wisconsin.  It will be decorated in honor of military families and displayed in the Blue Room of the White House.