Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET by MARGARET DICKSON I had not visited our nation’s capital for some time, and now — quite unexpectedly, I have been there twice in less than two months, both trips just for fun. My fi rst foray came just before Christmas when I traveled with several other members of the Women’s Giving Circle of Fayetteville to take in the White House holiday decorations. This was a bit of an impulse trip, a two-day jaunt I decided to take just a few days beforehand and well worth the effort. The holiday White House is spectacular no matter who the President is, and it is impossible not to feel the history and personal stories that have played out in those beautifully decorated, yet still august rooms. Our little band made several other interesting stops as well, including two historic homes from pre-Revolutionary and Federal days. While both provided glimpses of the way some of our American fore bearers spent their days — generally one big meal in the middle of the afternoon which lasted several hours and then off to bed when the sun went down, we really cannot be positive about what folks were up to two or more centuries ago. One thing I did learn, though, is that crawling was discouraged for babies, perhaps because fl oors could not be kept clean. Whatever the reason, babies old enough to sit and move around but not yet walking were bound and put upright into contraptions called “walkers” until they could do so under their own steam. Another stop was the Newseum, a relatively new and highly interactive museum about what else? The news. An exhibit on coverage of Katrina and her aftermath is fascinating, as are others on famous American crimes and the people who committed them. My favorite, though, was a video about Elvis Presley, featuring a mourner who, upon learning the sad news of Elvis’ departure not only from the room but altogether, declared that everyone would miss the King, “both white and black, redneck and free.” A fi nal treat was a Sunday morning service at St. John’s Church, across from the White House, known as the “church of the Presidents” and last seen on television as President-elect and Mrs. Obama honored tradition and prayed there shortly before his inauguration. In the back and quietly marked, is the pew where President Lincoln slipped in to pray during the long days of the Civil War, always leaving just before the service ended and walking back to the White House alone. A trip to Washington is a glimpse at how we became who we are. MARGARET DICKSON,Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomingweekly.com The White House at Christmas is an amazing site. Just by chance, I had seen a television snippet about the new fl orist at the White House and her festive ideas and plans for her fi rst holiday season in the First Family’s service. The fl orist did, indeed, go all out. My traveling companions and I lost count of all the gorgeous wreaths and trees almost everywhere we looked, and the mantle decorations could only be described as stunning. Throughout all of this are the portraits our nation’s founders and of Presidents and First Ladies, some from my lifetime and some from long ago, each presiding over yet another American holiday season. A chorale group from Tennessee added to the ambience. The fl orist’s signature was clearly the East Room, the largest room in the White House, which was fi lled to capacity with matching and towering trees decorated in deep blues and greens, each topped with brilliantly hued peacocks whose plumes seemed to be exploding atop the tree. All I could think of was “don’t try this at home!” The next trip was this month, another short notice jaunt. Two friends and I had been hankering to visit the diplomatic reception rooms at the State Department, the rooms in which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other diplomats entertain and otherwise get together with representatives of other countries throughout the globe — presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens, and on down the line. These rooms do our nation proud. When the State Department building was completed in 1961, the diplomatic reception rooms were furnished with standard government-issue furniture — the word “pleather” comes to mind. A career diplomat and true visionary named Clement Conger knew our nation could and should do better, and he did just that. A self-taught expert on American antiques, Conger did what many of us do when the going gets tough. Conger went shopping for the best American furnishings he could fi nd and raised private money — not tax dollars — to pay for them. The Washington Post once commented that Conger “had raised more money for the United States government than anyone outside the Internal Revenue Service,” and it shows in the museum quality furnishings, including Paul Revere silver, the very best hand-crafted furniture, every stick of it made in America, now worth about $100 million. You can schedule a free guided tour of these breathtaking rooms through the State Department website. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Don’t wait until tomorrow. 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