Memoirs of Christmas Decorating at The White House

      He was once a White House Christmas Floral Decorator during The Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations. His floral arrangements graced the tables of three Presidents, a State Dinner for The Queen of England and Prince Phillip, The Governor's Annual Dinner, a State Dinner for the Emperior of Japan and other Heads of State at the White House one time or another during those twelve years. His over-night success came quickly at the youthful age of twenty-four and remained in the spotlight of this elegant lifestyle career for twelve years. This e-book will present to you the story of former United States Army Sergeant Frank Lazzaro, from Richmond Hill, New York, ( Now residing on Long Island ) turned Florist Entrepreneur for twelve years at The White House decorating the many rooms and Christmas trees for three administrations. Among his top floral design credits were two State Dinners and one Formal White House Dinner for the fifty Governors of the United States, all during the Ford Administration. One of the nation's most famous and historic State Dinners was Frank's professional contribution for decorating a "White House Rose Garden Tent Reception" for The Queen of England during our country's bi-centennial celebration honoring Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip on July 7th,1976. The second State Dinner that Frank contributed with his professional assistance was The State Dinner for The Emperior of Japan at The White House given by The President and Mrs. Ford on October 2, 1975. The last of the "Big Three" dinners that Frank assisted in his position as a freelancer was the formal White House Black Tie Annual Governor's Dinner held every year in the State Dining Room at The White House in February. In the mid 1970's Frank gain national recognition with a television appearance creating an arrangement that he designed for one of the White House interior rooms. Viewers nationwide watched his designing techiques and creation of a duplicate White House floral design. This online book will demonstrate and display the masterpieces created at the White House more than thirty years ago by Frank Lazzaro. Enjoy this 4-star rated historic e-book from Google's Knol, a Blog for interesting stories from publishers around the world. So let's go back in time and view Frank's online book in elegant decorating from an era long gone, Christmas at The White House with Frank Lazzaro.
                                                          

In the fall of 1974 the Viet Nam war was slowly coming to an end. Soldiers became Veterans looking for work, but there was very little in employment findings.  A new kind of dance music called "Disco" was born, and it became the era of white suits and looking cool for guys. The "Hippie" generation was slowing fading out from the old Woodstock era! The President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, resigned from the most powerful office on the planet just that past summer. Vice President Ford took over the reigns in the Oval Office, and the country changed its course forever. It was the seventies! Americans were getting a breath of  fresh air. I was a very active, youthful looking twenty-four year old college student, now under the G.I. bill of rights and working part time as a movie usher ( I watched the movie "2001 Space Odyssey" 720 times on the job and almost went nuts! ). I was  trying to make ends meet day by day adjusting back to civilian life and just surporting my Betsy, Betsy was my light blue, flower power, daisy "peace" decal, Volkswagon Beatle Bug. She was all I had. I owned nothing else in the world. I use to say a decade of the Rosary that she will start up on those cold winter mornings, and another decade if she made it back to Richmond Hill, the place that I called "Home Sweet Home". It worked all the time!  I came out of Fort Bragg flat broke and jobless, and nothing was worst than having both these perils at once, nobody wanted to know you! My Brother Richie use to say, "Mr. Fortune has a lady friend that will visit you more offen called Misfortune!" Thank God, be it ever so humble, there was no place like home to go to after Army discharged. Just like thousands of other GI's in those days, we all just loved to party with the bucks on payday. And payday was once a month! On weekends after military discharged, I'll be selling artifical floral designs out of the front trunk of my Betsy (because the engine was in the rear, remember?) at the old Valley Stream Drive In Theater Weekend Fea Market and the Commack Arena, in Commack Long Island, N.Y. Thank you Mother Cabrini, for me living home, my parents were my landlords and my rent was dirt cheap, otherwise, I would be bunking my bed back at Fort Bragg for another three years of service. My Mother had a policy, on rent day, she would just put her open hand out to me, keep silent, and I would place in her hand whatever funds I could afford that month. I loved this policy very much and always tried to make a great effort to place in her hands as much money as possible! Sometimes there will be just a note saying, "Be an Angel and hold this check"! Back home on the block, I had miss the Army and my Army buddies a great deal. We were all very close in age and enjoyed each other's company during military service. We laugh together, ate army chow and drank good beer together - and even sometimes cried on each other's shoulders. It was one big family of forty guys together in one big barrack at Fort Bragg.

Back in Richmond Hill, the gang I hung out with in high school and some from my teenage years were no more in sight. The drugs of the late 60's took many of them to the pearly gates way before their time. Some also were "serving time". Smokey Park looked more like a memorial when I made an inspection of the neighborhood's "old hangout" handball court upon returning home. Only a handful rosed to the ranks of great success in their lives. I also took a good path in life, the straight path, "The Narrow Gate". I remember that from the Gospel of The Sermon on the Mount, back at St Theresa of Avila, in South Ozone Park, our family church, to know what was right and what was wrong was my rule of the day. ( St. Mary's Gate of Heaven was another beautiful church in Ozone Park so close to my heart ).  Everyone can just enter through the wide gate, that is the easy way - it's the narrow gate that is hard to enter. Remember when Jesus said that the Angels will come and separate the weeds from the grains?                                                                                                                                                                       When The White House called my home on that beautiful fall September morning back in 1974, my Mother answered the phone and had no idea that I submitted a letter to the First Lady stating my opinion of how I think the White House should be decorated at Christmastime. I was in charge of getting a Christmas Tree in the barracks and decorating it at Fort Bragg - so the guys named me the "Official" Christmas tree decorator of Fort Bragg Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Batallion. They even nominated me to ask The General of Fort Bragg if I could decorate his tree. I always said, "If it majority of the soldiers agreed upon something, it was stamped "government official!"  ( Not a bad idea - but I aimed a bit higher -  I tried The White House ). That was the only experience I had, and I put that in the letter to the First Lady. Never lied about your background experience, it will come back and haunt you someday. Of course I had help from my buckmates decorating that four foot live blue spruce tree with our army green socks and beer cans in the barracks. It was the perfect touch coming from a group of military air-borne troopers, I wish Youtube was around in those days. Well, getting back to the phone call, when Mom pick up the phone that autumn September morning, and the voice said "Im calling from The White House", she though it was the "white house" down the block with the dog barking in the front yard. What do you expect from an old-fashioned, home loving Italian Mom who never traveled pass Jersey in her whole life?  The voice said "No, not that house." in a slow southern tone, She immediately said, "Oh, then the white house on the corner, the McCourt and Trudden Funeral Home?" - The voice on the telephone replied back, "No, not that house, either".  She was about to hang up, but took the man's number and said "my son will call you back, they are the only two white houses we have around here", she said it rapidly thinking it was a hoax with one of my friends. They always played jokes on the telephone to me and my family when I was a teenager growing up. After I found out what Mom said on the telephone to the White House representative, I regained my balance, told her about the letter I mailed to the First Lady, and made the call back. It was Mr. Rusty "Elmer" Young, The Chief White House Floral Decorator, a very well liked gentleman that was known nationwide.  A man I will never forget! A professional man that I own so much to!  He was the Landscaper for the grounds when Harry Truman was President, and then became the very first White House Chief Floral Designer hired by Bess Truman. He was a real southern Gentleman that I held the greatest respect for in those days. Before that position was open, Mr. Young once told me that they use to travel to the florist every morning to get the flowers for the White House or have them delivered everyday from the surrounding flower shops in Washington D.C. Rusty once told me a short story thirty years ago when we were having a lunch break at The White House Dining Room. He said one day he was placing fresh flowers in a vase in the family quarters on the second floor during the Truman Administration. He was standing in the Hallway outside the Truman's bedroom. He notice the President coming down the hallway and started to sweep up quickly some of the cut green foliages that dropped on the elegant red carpet. President Truman looked at him, smiled, turned to Rusty and with a low voice told him to "Just sweep it under the carpet, The First Lady will never see it there". The Chief Florist informed me on the telephone that the First Lady had received my letter and was very please she did. She wanted me to be part of the decorating for the White House Christmas Tree that year, and the rest is history. After an intensed interview, secret service investigations, security investigations, and family checked backgrounds on every member of my family, I was requested by The White House to decorate The Christmas Tree, I stayed on for 12 years as The White House Freelance Christmas Decorator. This was a non salaried position, but the rewards I received from major newspapers, national magazine articles, television appearances of requesting me for interviews and photographs and public appearances in schools and senior clubs was worth their weight in gold for my personal life resume and florist shoppe business in advertising exposure to the nation. Oh, how I wish the internet was around in those days. The White House always backed me with a confirmation of my decorating work experiences there to any major media newspaper who came calling about me. The request for me to appear as a guest speaker for organizations and clubs around the nation and on Long Island was in very high demand. Almost over-night, I became a household name on Long Island and my little one man flower shop business out of my volkswagon trunk at the fea market grew to a 300 square foot flower shop and into a three store chain, with locations in Floral Park, Franklin Square and Mineola, New York. With over fifth-teen employees, five trucks and weddings every weekend, we were one of the most popular florist on Long Island.  It was only during the Christmas holidays and special state dinners that I was summons to The White House for my professional skills. That is called a freelance Designer, a person traveling to execute a floral or decorating task for a short period of time. I also did this position with R. H. Macy's Spring flower show during Holy Week in the 1970's for a couple of years. I was on the staff at Macy's decorating their Main Floor and thirty-four street windows with floral arrangements, under the direction of the famous Visual Floral Display Designer Everett Conlin. A very large staff including myself would work around the clock for one week designing floral displays and getting everything ready for the opening of the Spring Show on Palm Sunday. I must say something about working in Macy's Flower Show,  it's like being in the land of Oz. Large floral displays with the most beautiful fresh blooms in the world, right on Macy's Main Floor in Herald Square, and believe me, Macy's is really the largest store in the world, what a sight to see!  Bergdorf Goodman, the very exclusive high priced fifth avenue emporium, also was one of the places I traveled to a great deal to freelance their windows in the 1970's. That was truly an experience for me working at Bergdorf's. It was the first time in my life, I ever held in my arms and before my very own eyes, a five thousand dollar dress that they gave me to displayed in one of their fifth avenue windows. After I told my mother this story, she said to me, "Frankie, I will stay with shopping at Klein's basement, and look just as good" - and she was right.  In this book I will explain the floral designs that I have created during those years at The White House and will explain the components involved so you can also create something very similar for your own cozy little mansion.                                                 

Frank in the Rose Garden at The White House on a short break from preparing the table centerpieces under a large white tent for The State Dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth of England and Prince Phillip July 7th, 1976.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      It is with great pleasure to present to you my most cherished photographs taken many years ago of my floral and decorating designs created at The White House during the Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations and to share them with you and the rest of the world in this e-book. I have selected a beautiful collection of my personal photographs from the many in my home library of the wonderful years when I was on the staff as The White House Freelance Christmas Floral Decorator. With my greatest respect to the Office of The President Of The United States, I have declined to place any Presidential photographs of myself with The President and to remain those images to be in my private home library collection for my own personal gratification. Also, my peers, all the professional florist and decorators with whom I had the great pleasure and honor of working with side by side at The White House for those twelve years. ( I hope you didn't think for a minute I did this job all alone? ) With all my respect to their privacy, I have refrained from placing any photo images from my home photo library of these talented people with me or by themselves in White House photographs on this e-book. All but one! I have selected just one public official White House Photograph, from my home library, of myself and First Lady Rosalynn Carter and is presented in this e-book as an official testimony to the world of my true credentials as a White House Decorator. That these facts I am writing about in this e-book are all true statements and White House photographs and all the images on this website is of me, Frank Lazzaro, from twenty four through thirty six years of age, and taken at The White House during those years of my service in my profession as a florist. The photograph with Mrs. Carter, which is on this website, was taken during my working hours as a professional decorator in The Cross Hall (the very large center hallway connecting all the rooms on the main floor of the White House). It is an image of myself in working attire, with sleeves up, during my laboring skills by the side of The First Lady of the United States. A photograph taken by The White House photographer and given to me many years ago and one that I am so very proud of, and is held very close to my heart. It will appear on this e-book as you read on. That is the only official White House Photograph with The First Lady that I will display for public viewing. This online book is about "Frank Lazzaro", and the memoirs of my professional background designing floral arrangements and decorations in The White House during the Christmas season for three administrations. I favor no public official or party in this e-book. The topics on this e-book will always be on Christmas, the State Dinner floral designs, the room decor and history of each room that my floral arrangements graced at The White House. A brief detail description of each room that I have participated in the decorating has been included in each chapter so that you may endure a visualization of the interior background involved with the floral decor..... All the photographs on this website have been taken at The White House many years ago and is the sole property and ownership of Frank Lazzaro, and no copies of these images may be made for public viewing without the owner's permission. Please respect this e-book and my request to keep this within the e-book and website. On the final chapter of this book is the complete story from the beginning to end of my twelve years experience decorating The White House for Christmas. In the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy some White House photographs, and some "very interesting" history that I know of, and a part of my life that is now just a "golden memory" that will be with me until my death. (The above photo was taken of me after the holiday arrangements were all completed in The Red Room during the Reagan Administration). This e-book is dedicated to the many wonderful people in my life that changed my world completely. My beloved Mother and Father, may they both rest in peace, and also to Mr. E. "Rusty" Young, the Chief White House Florist in that era and all my wonderful peers back in that time. The great professional florists and decorators that labored with me side by side for those twelve years decorating The White House, sometimes working in the middle of the night on a State Dinner for the next evening. I have endured such great knowledge and talented skills in this profession from all of them. I was the youngest and the "new kid on the block" in those first years, and the staff welcomed me with open arms. Some of the "old timers" that I teamed up with called me "The Kid". I worked there with one senior florist that was pretty up there in age. He was a florist with over 50 years experience. We had such a good relationship together working hard and sometimes sharing a laugh or two while decorating the tree. He use to call me a young "whipper snapper"! He did magic as a hobby in his flower shop and performed to his customers, he use to tell me so many stories about that. I use to tease him and one day I said to him,  "Rex, tell me about your first wedding centerpiece? How did it look on the table at the Wedding of Cana?" All  but one, at this writing, have retired from The White House now. Many have passed on. For security reasons and to respect her privacy, I refrain from giving any additional information on this very talanted designer who is still active at The White House. All I know is that I had the great pleasure of working with her in those days, and had the highest respect for her professional skills. These fond memories of all those great people are engraved in my heart forever!  Also, for security reasons, I am withholding any detailed locations and descriptions of the florist room and any other department that I have used in order to accomplish my designing skills in floral arrangements and table displays at The White House. Only the public viewing main floor of the Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room, East Room , State Dining Room and Cross Hall, will be only major rooms I will describe to you in detail in this e-book.                                                                                                                                                                     The Blue Room                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I always enjoyed trimming the beautiful twenty-five "footer" Christmas Tree located in The Blue Room, on the main floor of The White House. The photograph below of me decorating the tree on the scadfold was taken during the Reagan Administration. The rules were a little different with the new First Lady, but we adjusted to them very quickly. She summons in her interior decorators from the west coast and together, we created beautiful floral designs, working side by side, for those four Christmases that I remained during the Reagan Administration. The Blue Room is a beautiful room in The White House. It's my second favorite room next to The Red Room. This room is the most elegant architectural feature of James Hoban's plans for The White House. The Blue Room has always been used as a reception room except for a brief period during the administration of John Adams when it served as the south entrance hall. It was redecorated by President Monroe after the fire of 1814, the furnishings were destroyed in that fire. The President used the French Empire style interior design, which is the present decor today. The color blue was introduced during the administration of Martin Van Buren in 1837; he redecorated the oval salon and began the tradition of the "Blue Room". I love entering this room. I feel so very proud being an American, when I entered such an elegant room at The White House. I spend many long hard working hours in this room decorating the Christmas tree, sometimes, very late in the evening. So much past history had entered my imagination while I and my peers were decorating the mantles, sometimes, I would go and sit down in one of the many soft comfortable custioned grand style chairs, while taking a break from the task at hand, dreaming of it all. The tree decorations in The Blue Room was for the nation to view and enjoy via television in those days.  ( 25 years before Youtube.com was even born ). There were all kinds of decorations donated or on loan from all sources of companies, non-profit organizations, museums and creative people from all walks of life. Many times the decorations were created by the handicap or physically challenged people in schools across the nation. The decorations they made were very lovely to look at. I remember one Christmas decoration that really stood out on the tree during the Carter Administration and it received center attention from everyone in view of the tree. It was made by a grade school in Georgia with children making decorations from party hats, candy and peanuts. It is a very simple holiday decoration that your children will enjoy making.                                                                                                                                                                                                HOW TO MAKE A HOLIDAY HAT DECORATION FROM A CARTER WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS - I decorated the tree in The Blue Room one year during the Carter Administration with these lovely Christmas "Upside Down" Hats, here's the plan: Take a regular kid's party hat, cone shape, about 6" high, in shinning bright red, gold, silver and green colors, trim the top round edge with silver garland or gold garland, mix up the colors, turn it upside down and fill the hat with regular shell peanuts and colorful gumdrops or assorted small christmas candies and go about 3" over the brim of the party hat, press down lightly into the hat to secure the peanuts and candy, and hang it on the tree using the rubber band that holds the party hat on the child's head. To add a personal touch to this simple child-can-do decoration, add different kinds of cookies, gingerbread man and candy canes into the party hat combined with the peanuts. Your kids will love making these cute decorations for the family tree. Keep the hats all the same size and rotate the colors green, silver and red and gold around your tree. Makes a lovely presentation for your holiday tree decorations, very inexpensive to create, and you'll have for yourself in your very own home a traditional historic replicia of a Carter Christmas Decoration once hanging on The White House Tree in The Blue Room. (make a small holiday sign and place it on your tree for the fun of it). Your holiday guest will be quite thrill to view these lovely replicias.  I know, I put them on the tree myself, "The Real McCoy" and had a big thrill doing it.         

                 

                                                       Frank Lazzaro decorating the Christmas Tree                                                          Toys on the Tree                                   The Blue Room - Carter Administration                                                                                                                                                                                                  Toys to Decorate your Christmas Tree - There is something to say about having small plush teddy bears and toys, antique toys, wooden trains and soldiers at Christmastime. That is Christmas!  Below image will show you a Christmas Tree that I assisted in the decorating using toys and toys and toys. Most of the beautiful antique toys were about 5 inches long, some were as high as 12 inches.  I loved decorating the tree with these antique toys. They were simply beautiful to look at. Each antique toy decoration was very valuable in price. Most  of these unique masterpieces were on loan from museums around the country. Many of these decorations were from Christmases past from Presidential administrations in the 1800's.                         

                                         Frank in The Blue Room after all the decorating is completed.                                           Notice the antique toys hanging on the branches. Assorted clowns, 

                                      rocking horses, dolls, soldiers and 19th century Christmas cards.                                                 It is so easy, inexpensive and elegant looking to use antique wooden soldiers, trains, hand carved wood animals and unique plush little toys for your very own tree decorating. Add some rag dolls too! That was a beautiful vision with rag dolls made by hand from homecrafters around the country. Make this an all year hobby of collecting unique little toys at garage sales and fea markets and small store closeouts. Start in January and collect them all year. Check out ebay too! Ask a friend with a baby if you can have small wood blocks with the color letters and numbers on them. Glue 3 together and add gold string, and you have a Christmas decoration for your tree. Load your Christmas tree up with these beautiful offsprings from toyland and add white tiny lights, (no twinkling lights). You will want to keep the tree up all year round after you're done decorating your masterpiece. Just keep away from those multi color flashing lights, angel hair and tinsel. Those days are long gone                                                                                                                                                                                             A Doll House Christmas -  Here is something that you will enjoy doing and it should be plenty of fun for the entire family. Find an old antique looking doll house, look for one at a garage sale. Try to get one to look like the dollhouse I am kneeing next to in this Christmas display ( below ) under the Blue Room Christmas Tree and make a toyland of colorful holiday wrapped presents, (notice the wrapped fake giftboxes behind me against the wall) antique dolls, wooden trains and whatever you can find to make it look like something that came out two centuries ago. The doll house in this photo with me is the "Real McCoy" antique house dating back to the Victorian Era and worth millions of dollars. I believe that one of the Presidents and the First Lady in that century gave it to their daughter as a Christmas present. (I hate to have that mortage payment every month) That was the story, but I don't know which President. Here's a note to amaze you!  Only myself and a handful of decorators, who had the great honor of viewing this masterpiece home, toured the inside of this very elegant doll house with my own eyes. Each room in this beautiful home had scaled miniature furniture of the Victorian era. All hand carved wooden furniture. I glazed down at every tiny room in the house and what really had my eyes wide open in disbelief was the tiny hand-carved baby grand piano in the large center room. This house was filled with antique tiny furniture dating back to that period in time. I felt that the clock was turned back to the last century. I knew that when the White House had its tours for the holiday season, no one would know this and be able to glance inside of this Victorian home to see what I saw. I was privileged to be there to view this, it was truly a beautiful sight to see.      

                                                  Frank adding the finishing touches to an antique doll house                                                       under the White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room.                                                                                        Reagan Administration       

                     Frank on the 25 ft scaffold decorating the White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room.                Carter Administration                                                                                                                                                                                                   Make sure that before you start hanging all the decorations on your tree, that the light bulbs are all in place and working with no electrical problem. Tighten each bulb one by one to make sure they light and in the socket properly. Put the lights on the tree first after the Christmas tree is secured in its place with a water tree pan on the floor. (If this is a fresh tree) Always use support with the proper equipment before decorating your tree. Rope, two by four wood planks, wire, nails, whatever it takes to secure it down. Make sure, if it is a fresh cut tree, that you cut the bottom main bark of the tree to a long point or slant. Almost like a pencil being sharpen with a knife. Why? When you cut the tree trunk on a point or slant instead of a straight cut at the end with a saw, it takes in a good amount of water, and keeps the tree lasting longer. A tree with a straight flat cut can not drink the water very well. It will last longer and not dry out as fast with this techique. Add water daily to the tree water pan. Fresh cold water, everyday up until the day you discard the tree. Do not let the tree dry out one single day or it will cause a very serious fire. Also, I always spray my tree with a water mist bottle to keep the branches looking green and fresh. It also makes a beautiful presentation with water drops all over the tree. Try it out yourself this holiday season. (remember, to do this with the water spray, you would need "outside" weather proof lights for your tree) If you have a large tree, seven feet high, don't decorate it all alone, get help if neccessary. It's more fun and you will not be very tired halfway into the job. Don't think you can do all this by yourself, it's not easy. Look at all the people it takes to put the tree up in Rockerfeller Center. Remember, the most important job in decorating a tree is securing it down to the floor. The biggest nightmare that can happen to you if it becomes loose in the tree pan and falls down. Secure the base and if the tree is placed in a corner of the room, attached strong fishing line to the top center bark to the walls. Keep it secure at all times. Drap the electric lights on the outside branches for the best results. Use light bulbs that are always clear. Do not use multi-colors or flashing lights. The 1960's are way over! I never had a problem with the electrical lights on the White House tree because the U.S. Government Parks Department employees had them all in place for us. That was their job! We just decorated the tree. Spray your fresh tree with a water mist every day if possible. Keep it bright green, cool and fresh as long as possible. Keep the tree away from heat, a stove, away from the sunny window and fireplace. Always have a fire extinguisher handy in the room and check it throughout the holiday season for the proper contents. Purchase a large family size one at the Home Depot. (How did my Grandparents ever use lited candles on the tree?) Use a secure ladder when climbing the steps to decorate your tree and do not carry a million Christmas balls in your arms. Get the exercise and go up and down to get more decorations. I lost five pounds decorating that tree in the Blue Room. I reached the very top and hung the star up on the branch that was touching the ceiling (25 feet high). The scaffold I was climbing could be around the Statue of Liberty, it was very secure and strong. I also did airborne training at Fort Bragg, so the height did not disturb me at all. I felt more like a trappeze artist at Ringling Bros climbing that scaffold with my feet and hands. One day I had to reach the center of the tree for a empty space that needed a Christmas ball - I was a peerfectionist and wanted that space filled with a decoration.  I had one foot and one hand on the scaffold while my right foot touch the inside of the branch and my right hand hung the ball on the branch. I was always elected to do that because of my youth and strength. Here's a quickie! One day I was on the very top and I heard people talking and entering the Blue Room to observe me in my decorating. It was First Lady Betty Ford with Hollywood celebrities Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. You'll never know who is watching over you in that house! Tony Bennett one year came in with Mrs.Ford when I was putting the finishing touches on the tree also. I wish my mother could have been there to see this scene. She loved Tony Bennett. He came to visit The First Lady and to sing at a White House holiday dinner that week.                 

                            Frank decorating an elegant mantle in the Blue Room. Carter Administration                                                                                                                                                                        The Mantles                                                                                                                                                                                  If there is something that The White House had plenty of, it was mantles. I have never seen so many mantles in one house in my life. There are other facts of interest and I have them listed below:

         

                Frank in The Red Room finishing the mantle centerpiece in the gold urn (shown on the mantle)             Notice the tag on my suit?  All decorators and staff must wear the security tag on them and have it exposed at all times to the secret service assigned to guard the White House. The security there was very, very tight, and that was thirty years ago. Can you imagine how it must be in today's world?

      I believe that in all my decorating years at The White House, nothing gave me greater pleasure, more joy in my heart, than decorating The Official White House Christmas Tree in The Blue Room. For most of my twelve years, 1974-1986 I was a major participate or senior designer in the decorating of this Christmas Tree.                  ( ABOVE PHOTO ) Standing in The Red Room at The White House after decorating the mantle with two holiday arrangments filled with assorted greenery of evergreen and holly touched with red carnations and place in the gold urn on the mantle, one on each side, shown here in the photograph behind me. Reagan Administration. The Red Room is furnished in the Empire style of 1810-1830, and contains several pieces of furniture from the New York workshop of the French-born cabinetmaker Charles-Honore Lannuler. The Red Room served as "The President's Antichamber" for the Cabinet Room or President's Library next door. During the Madison Administration the antechamber became the "Yellow Drawing Room" and the scene of Dolley Madison's Fashionable Wednesday night receptions. The fame, beauty, wealth and talents once graced this room of that era. In 2000, the Red Room was refurbished, preserving the American Empire style chosen in 1962 during the Kennedy Administration. It's a very elegant room with a combination of richly carved and finished woods in characteristic designs such as dolphins, acanthus leaves, lion's heads and sphinxes. This is my favorite room in The White House and the one I most enjoyed creating my floral designs in.                                                                                                                                                                       The Red Room                       

          The above photograph shows an image that I am adding the finishing touches to a holiday arrangement in the very famous "Red Room". Assorted holiday foliages with added touches of berries, designed in a beautiful antique bowl, makes this very elegant piece a "masterpiece" that I am very proud of. Reagan Administration.

                               Frank just finishing designing a holiday centerpiece for The Green Room -                                                                                                                                                                                           Reagan Administration                                                                                                                                                                                                     The Green Room                                                                                                                                                                            The above photograph is taken of me placing a holiday arrangement, that I have just created in The Flower Room, on a table in "The Green Room". It was made of assorted Christmas greenery with red berries, holly, juniper with blue tone berries, ivy, evergreen and moss base in an antique bowl. The Green Room has served many purposes since The White House was first occupied in 1800. It was first used as a "Lodging Room." Thomas Jefferson, the second occupant of The White House, used it as a dining room. James Madison made it a sitting room. Styles in the room changed many times during the years of Presidents. The Green Room was completely refurbished in 1971. Its walls were recovered with the delicate green watered-silk fabric originally chosen by Mrs. Kennedy in 1962. Draperies of striped beige, green, and coral satin graced the room. The walls of The Green Room are covered with elegant paintings of various people and scenes. It is a beautiful room to one's eyes. If you have a room in green tones, and want to create a holiday centerpiece for a table, its color co-ordiation is on your side. For your own home interior decor - you cannot fail in your interior decorating blends if you keep your holiday centerpiece in shades of assorted Christmas greenery and just add a couple of fresh apples or lite green pears. Use an elegant bowl of china or ceramic in ivy color or a Laura Ashley type white ceramic bowl with touches of blue trim. White House compotes, vases or bowls that I have designed floral arrangements in are all the "Real McCoy" antiques. I have created many simple green foliage designs in my time there, using all assorted fresh holiday foliages worth about fifty dollars at the wholesale level in a ceramic or gold bowl that was worth a couple of million dollars in antique value. It's the container that counts for more than fifty percent of the floral design. With a beautiful elegant container you can place dried weeds in it and if designed with a little flair, would look beautiful. I love to add some fruits to holiday arrangements when I am working with an early American interior decor. Many of these containers that I have designed in date back to the first President that occupied the White House, so I had to always be very careful in carrying these lovely pieces to the rooms.  I always enjoyed decorating the Green Room while in The White House. Reagan Administration.                                                                                                                                                                         

            

                                                                                                                                                                                                  The East Room                               

 The bronze electric light standards are displayed in The East Room along side the large majestic fireplaces. I trimmed these (above photo) many years at The White House. They looked so elegant when decorated with assorted fresh holiday greens and berries wrapped around the bronze standards. When the lights are all lite up in The East Room, and the decorations are all in placed, it is a most beautiful scene to view for Christmas. The East Room is for very large formal State Dinners and White House parties and evening entertainment by great performers from all over the world. It is the largest room in The White House and is also the home of The White House Nativity Scene display and The Christmas Gingerbread House display created from the baker's kitchen. Reagan Administration.                                 

I love this Creche on displayed in the East Room of The White House every Christmas. It is a White House tradition to see this when I use to travel there to decorate the rooms. I have always looked forward to viewing this beautiful elegant Nativity Scene and said a prayer to The Holy Family, requesting peace in the world, when I was before this majestic display. In all the twelve years I have been at The White House decorating the mansion, I have never seen the people that assembled this great masterpiece in The East Room. One day the room is empty and the next day this most beautiful vision is there - As if it came in the middle of the night, placed there by angels, just like the birth of Our Savior. How I wish I could bring this back to New York with me and display it in my own home, it would be up all year round. Reagan Administration.                                    

The photograph above was taken in The East Room of The White House in the mid 1980's. I was setting up an antique urn on a wall table preparing for an evening holiday reception. (I looked in the elegant wall mirror to see if I aged a little while worrying to meet the deadline for this formal reception). Sometimes when I was decorating the mansion on the main floor and in the rooms, and no "VIP's" are in the area, (Especially The President or First Lady), I would remove my suit jacket, role up my sleeves and get deep into the business of decorating this graceful, most elegant room, feeling very comfortable as if it was my own home, sometimes, I think it was my second home, I was there so many years. Whenever The President or First Lady would enter the room that I was working in, I would quickly role down my sleeves and place my suit jacket back on for a more respectful dress attire presentation. (Notice the Christmas Wreath refecting in the mirror on the window paine). There were always fresh green wreaths hung in every window on the main floor of The White House.                                                   

           

This photograph above was taken during the 1980 Christmas decorating season in The White House Flower Room, I was creating something very special for a Christmas reception that evening in The East Room. Instructed and under the supervision of The Chief White House Florist, he gave me the pleasure of designing Fruit Trees to place on the buffet tables along near the walls in The East Room. I do not remember the exact count, but I kept creating these very elegant fruit trees all day and into the evening. When I completed four of them at a time, I would transport these creations on to the tables in the East Room.....The East Room, scene of many historic White House events, and the largest room in The White House, is used for large gatherings, such as dances, after-dinner entertainments, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations, press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies. It has a beautiful Steinway grand piano with gilt Americn eagle supports and was given to The White House as a gift in 1938 by the manufacturer. The elegant Bohemian cut-glass chandeliers are installed in the delicate plaster decorated ceiling. This massive room has an 18th-century classical style to which it was restored by architects during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902. All my twelve Christmases have been in this room decorating the mantles and Christmas Trees during the holiday decorating season. The White House Nativity Scene is always displayed in this room. These elegant Christmas Tree Centerpieces were used on the buffet tables along near the walls in The East Room. I do not remember the exact count, but I kept creating these very elegant fruit trees all day and into the early evening. When I completed a couple of them at a time, I would transport these creations onto the tables in the East Room ( PHOTO BELOW ).....The East Room, scene of many historic White House events, and the largest room in The White House, is used for large gatherings, such as dances, after-dinner entertainments, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations, press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies. It has a beautiful Steinway grand piano with gilt Americn eagle supports and was given to The White House as a gift in 1938 by the manufacturer. The elegant Bohemian cut-glass chandeliers are installed in the delicate plaster decorated ceiling. This massive room has an 18th-century classical style to which it was restored by architects during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902. All my twelve Christmases have been in this room decorating the mantles and Christmas Trees during the holiday decorating season. The White House Nativity Scene is always displayed in this room. HOW TO MAKE A 20" CHRISTMAS APPLE FRUIT TREE CENTERPIECE - The Chief White House Florist created a sample Fruit Tree for me to follow, and I duplicated the design procedure over and over again. The Supplies you will need in creating this very elegant table centerpiece tree are the following: a gold ceramic compote about 10" in diameter, a 12" high green cone shape form that holds water, ( Most national-chain arts and crafts stores will sell these items at a reasonable price ) an assortment of fresh bright color fruits from your favorite quality food market, fruits such as one medium size pineapple, about twelve large dark red apples and twenty small green apples, 6" florist green wooden sticks and you will also need a nice size bouquet of dark boxwood greenery. DESIGN DIRECTIONS: Soak the green cone form into a bucket of warm water for about 20 minutes until it absorbs plenty of water. Make sure there are no air bubbles coming out of the form. Place the heavy water filled form cone in the middle of your work table on a plate to hold all the extra water coming out of the cone with plenty of space around you so you can view this entire cone on every angle of the design. It is much easier to work with while you turn the tree around when designing it on the plate. Insert one six inch wooden stick into the bottom of the pineapple. Tab it with a small hammer. With a florist knife or table knife, make a point on the other end of the stick and insert it on the very top of the green cone. That is your center focal point in the design. ( The height of the completed centerpiece would be around 20 inches tall. 12" for the cone and approximately 7" for the top pineapple ). The second step to this lovely centerpiece is very important. Insert the green wooden florist sticks into all the apples. Tap it with a small tap hammer halfway into the fruit. Make a point on the other end with a florist knife and insert them one by one into the green cone. The point on the stick holds it stronger in place in the form than a flat end stick. Balance the apples around the tree cone using one large red and small green alternating them about a couple of inches apart from each other. Add more apples if neccessary, the goal is to have a nice balance tree with the apples of small green and large red ones around the complete project. Make the red apples the primary color on your tree. Place the boxwood greenery ( this you can buy very cheaply at Home Depot as a small bush tree ) and with a wire cutter or foliage cutter, cut the boxwood on a slant-cut leaving about 3" in stem from the foliage and insert the twigs into the remaining empty spaces around the apples. Cover only about one half of the bottom fruits with the boxwood foliage. Make sure that the boxwood is evenly inserted in the tree and nothing is sticking out like a sore thumb. Fill the spaces tightly and spread the boxwood out to get the full even effect all around the tree of this beautiful dark green foliage. Spray the complete centerpiece everyday if possible, with a bottle mist of fresh clear cold water to give it a nice raindrop effect look and to keep the fruit and foliage fresh throughout the holiday season. . Water this centerpiece every other day, to keep it from drying up in your home, just place it in the sink and pore cold tap water over the entire piece. Place this lovely tree into antique gold compote, and you have yourself a masterpiece creation from the Reagan Administration Christmas dating back to an era long gone. Another photo will be on display soon showing the centerpiece on the buffet table. It is taken with a small over the counter flash camera, it was almost evening and all of the lights in the State Dining Room were not turned on. This was the only photo that was taken of my Apple Fruit Trees on display in that moment of time. The bottom photo is of me placing my Apple Fruit Trees onto the banquet tables in the East Room of the White House during the Christmas Season of 1980, taken by one of my florist peers. It was the Reagans first Christmas in The White House. I designed all of them, one by one, all day and night, until the complete project was done. I was a great success with the Christmas centerpieces at that reception, and so very proud of myself for doing such a challenging job. The First Lady enjoyed viewing them at inspection time before the dinner party. She was very pleased and I was on top of the world that day. The newspapers and national magazines had a field day with my centerpieces and the other White House reception decorations.

The photograph below was taken during the 1980 Christmas decorating season in The White House Flower Room, I was creating something very special for a Christmas reception that evening in The East Room. Instructed and under the supervision of The Chief White House Florist, he gave me the pleasure of designing Fruit Trees to place on the buffet tables along near the walls in The East Room. I do not remember the exact count, but I kept creating these very elegant fruit trees all day and into the evening. When I completed four of them at a time, I would transport these creations on to the tables in the East Room.....The East Room, scene of many historic White House events, and the largest room in The White House, is used for large gatherings, such as dances, after-dinner entertainments, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations, press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies. It has a beautiful Steinway grand piano with gilt Americn eagle supports and was given to The White House as a gift in 1938 by the manufacturer. The elegant Bohemian cut-glass chandeliers are installed in the delicate plaster decorated ceiling. This massive room has an 18th-century classical style to which it was restored by architects during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902. All my twelve Christmases have been in this room decorating the mantles and Christmas Trees during the holiday decorating season. The White House Nativity Scene is always displayed in this room. These elegant Christmas Tree Centerpieces were used on the buffet tables along near the walls in The East Room. I do not remember the exact count, but I kept creating these very elegant fruit trees all day and into the early evening. When I completed a couple of them at a time, I would transport these creations onto the tables in the East Room ( PHOTO BELOW ).....The East Room, scene of many historic White House events, and the largest room in The White House, is used for large gatherings, such as dances, after-dinner entertainments, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations, press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies. It has a beautiful Steinway grand piano with gilt Americn eagle supports and was given to The White House as a gift in 1938 by the manufacturer. The elegant Bohemian cut-glass chandeliers are installed in the delicate plaster decorated ceiling. This massive room has an 18th-century classical style to which it was restored by architects during the Theodore Roosevelt renovation of 1902. All my twelve Christmases have been in this room decorating the mantles and Christmas Trees during the holiday decorating season. The White House Nativity Scene is always displayed in this room. HOW TO MAKE A 20" CHRISTMAS APPLE FRUIT TREE CENTERPIECE - The Chief White House Florist created a sample Fruit Tree for me to follow, and I duplicated the design procedure over and over again. The Supplies you will need in creating this very elegant table centerpiece tree are the following: a gold ceramic compote about 10" in diameter, a 12" high green cone shape form that holds water, ( Most national-chain arts and crafts stores will sell these items at a reasonable price ) an assortment of fresh bright color fruits from your favorite quality food market, fruits such as one medium size pineapple, about twelve large dark red apples and twenty small green apples, 6" florist green wooden sticks and you will also need a nice size bouquet of dark boxwood greenery. DESIGN DIRECTIONS: Soak the green cone form into a bucket of warm water for about 20 minutes until it absorbs plenty of water. Make sure there are no air bubbles coming out of the form. Place the heavy water filled form cone in the middle of your work table on a plate to hold all the extra water coming out of the cone with plenty of space around you so you can view this entire cone on every angle of the design. It is much easier to work with while you turn the tree around when designing it on the plate. Insert one six inch wooden stick into the bottom of the pineapple. Tab it with a small hammer. With a florist knife or table knife, make a point on the other end of the stick and insert it on the very top of the green cone. That is your center focal point in the design. ( The height of the completed centerpiece would be around 20 inches tall. 12" for the cone and approximately 7" for the top pineapple ). The second step to this lovely centerpiece is very important. Insert the green wooden florist sticks into all the apples. Tap it with a small tap hammer halfway into the fruit. Make a point on the other end with a florist knife and insert them one by one into the green cone. The point on the stick holds it stronger in place in the form than a flat end stick. Balance the apples around the tree cone using one large red and small green alternating them about a couple of inches apart from each other. Add more apples if neccessary, the goal is to have a nice balance tree with the apples of small green and large red ones around the complete project. Make the red apples the primary color on your tree. Place the boxwood greenery ( this you can buy very cheaply at Home Depot as a small bush tree ) and with a wire cutter or foliage cutter, cut the boxwood on a slant-cut leaving about 3" in stem from the foliage and insert the twigs into the remaining empty spaces around the apples. Cover only about one half of the bottom fruits with the boxwood foliage. Make sure that the boxwood is evenly inserted in the tree and nothing is sticking out like a sore thumb. Fill the spaces tightly and spread the boxwood out to get the full even effect all around the tree of this beautiful dark green foliage. Spray the complete centerpiece everyday if possible, with a bottle mist of fresh clear cold water to give it a nice raindrop effect look and to keep the fruit and foliage fresh throughout the holiday season. . Water this centerpiece every other day, to keep it from drying up in your home, just place it in the sink and pore cold tap water over the entire piece. Place this lovely tree into antique gold compote, and you have yourself a masterpiece creation from the Reagan Administration Christmas dating back to an era long gone. Another photo will be on display soon showing the centerpiece on the buffet table. It is taken with a small over the counter flash camera, it was almost evening and all of the lights in the State Dining Room were not turned on. This was the only photo that was taken of my Apple Fruit Trees on display in that moment of time. The bottom photo is of me placing my Apple Fruit Trees onto the banquet tables in the East Room of the White House during the Christmas Season of 1980, taken by one of my florist peers. It was the Reagans first Christmas in The White House. I designed all of them, one by one, all day and night, until the complete project was done. I was a great success with the Christmas centerpieces at that reception, and so very proud of myself for doing such a challenging job. The First Lady enjoyed viewing them at inspection time before the dinner party. She was very pleased and I was on top of the world that day. The newspapers and national magazines had a field day with my centerpieces and the other White House reception decorations.

                            

Above photo is Sergeant Frank Lazzaro, United States Army, Fort Bragg, N.C. receiving the Army's Achievement Award for Outstanding Soldier - May 13, 1972. This was a day filled with great joy and celebration with a military luncheon from the "Mess Hall". Little did he know, two years later, Frank was "dining" at The White House. Frank's military skills included infantry combat training, airborne training and medical supply sergeant at Womack Army Hospital, in Ft. Bragg. Frank's one line statement to his peers after receiving this award, "there is no greater glory than to be a soldier in the United States Army".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                       online store is located at http://www.Lazzaros.com