White House Christmas bows ‘dream come true’

With the Christmas season comes a sparkling world of lights and bows and hopes of special dreams coming true. For Trussville-area decorator Kaleen Riley, her dream included Christmas lights and bows and a big white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington.
   
Riley, a member of NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association, recently returned from her third trip to help decorate the White House for Christmas.
   
Selected as one of 60 volunteer decorators to make bows, hang garland and embellish the many rooms of the president’s home during November, Riley called the experience “a dream come true.”
  
 After seeing the Home & Garden Television special “White House Christmas” in 1999, Riley said she knew immediately she wanted to participate and began praying about it. It took a few years for everything to fall into place, but in 2003, she applied and was accepted for the 2004 team. She has been accepted back each year since then. 
   
“God truly has blessed me with a talent to use for Him,” said Riley, who grew up involved in her family-owned florist shop and has worked as a decorator for almost 20 years.
   
This year, she worked on the team making all the bows for the White House and helped decorate the East Hall dining room. Riley also met President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush during the experience. “I have come to realize that if you pray about it and dream about it, it really can happen,” Riley said. (TAB)