Fargo Woman Helps Decorate White House for Christmas

She got to see the First Lady at a reception

FARGO, N.D. — Amanda Morgan spent her Thanksgiving weekend doing something most people will never get to do.

She helped decorate the White House for Christmas.

“I have a new appreciation for those who decorate and light houses, and light trees for a living. That was interesting but a lot of fun too,” Morgan said.

She says over 100 volunteers were picked out of a pool of 7,000 applicants. She got to explore D.C. for the first time, but some things do look a little different than they do in movies.

“The White House was beautiful, still a massive building, but much smaller than I had ever envisioned. It was neat. It was very humbling,” she said.

After decorating, the volunteers were thanked for their work in a special way.

“The reception was fantastic, beautifully done, you were treated like royalty. We were also able to weave through the rooms at our own pace and go in and take pictures,” she said.

Morgan even got to see the First Lady.

“She’s so elegant. So graceful, very kind, it was kind of surreal, kind of fangirling,” she said.

Morgan did not return empty–handed from the White House; she has several keepsakes that will remind her of her time there, like the apron she wore while decorating and her name tag.

She says they will continually remind her of what she calls the trip of a lifetime.

“It was an honor just to be there, to know you were able to serve her and do something for her and the First Family, that was pretty neat,” she said.

Something that stuck out to her was the kindness everyone had towards each other.

“The White House staff, all the volunteers, the entire staff spoke so highly of the First Family, that’s just great to hear, you’re never going to know them personally, so to hear them spoken so well of is neat,” Morgan said.