Christmas in September

For many years, the mid-point of Tour would bring an announcement from bus captains regarding White House Christmas ornaments. These are the ornaments produced by the White House Historical Association, commemorating past presidents, events, or organizations affiliated with the White House. My first White House ornament featured the Band during the presidency of James Polk.

Every year, Beth Schaefer would collect cash and checks from the touring members of the Band and send our order to Ops. The ornaments would be waiting for us when we returned to liquidate our travel orders. There were generally some grumblings about the inconvenience of dealing with this on tour; not everyone had a checkbook available to them on the road, and often there were no ATM’s for days.

When Preston joined the Operations Office, he overhauled the ordering process. Near the end of summer he makes the necessary contacts to facilitate our continued deep pricing discount; ordering begins in August, and all orders must be turned in before the end of the first week of tour rehearsals. This allows enough time for the ornaments to arrive before we depart on tour, leaving us one less detail to worry about on the road.

This is no small task; just this year, the band placed an order worth $9,200.00. When the shipment arrives, Preston sends out a notification email and posts a sign on the board. Just show up in Ops, and he’ll count out your ornaments and even bag them for you. It couldn’t be easier. The hard part is remembering where you put them while you’re on the road.