Date: October 15, 2009

                                    Contact: Rich Minster

                                                Carlinville Christmas

                                                Market Foundation

                                                217-854-6663 

Carlinville’s Debbie Zilm Chosen to Help Decorate the White House for Christmas

CARLINVILLE, ILL. – President Barack Obama’s staff has selected Debbie Zilm, of Carlinville, to be on the team that will decorate the White House for Christmas this year.  Zilm owns and operates both Main Street Florist and Main Street Bridal Shop on the town’s historic square. 

“What an honor and a thrill this is,” said an exuberant Zilm upon hearing that she had cleared security and would be part of a select group responsible for decking the White House halls.

Zilm and her husband, Andy, will drive to Washington, DC, on November 27.  Then, along with other members of the decorating team, she will spend that Saturday and Sunday assembling decorations in the support facility, a large warehouse in the Washington suburbs. 

“We will be picked up at the appointment gate at the northeast corner of the White House at 7:30 a.m., taken to the facility, and then returned at 4 p.m.  On Monday and Tuesday, we will work in the White House itself from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. actually installing the decorations.”

Zilm explained that the decorating work that she and her team members will perform is strictly voluntary.  “We’re not paid a wage, and we are responsible for our own travel and accommodations, although the White House will provide lunch and dinner for all of us on the days when we work.”

“I started thinking about this last January when I watched an HGTV special on decorating the White House for Christmas.  I watch the show every year, and this year I casually mentioned something to my family about volunteering.  My son, Brian, took hold of the idea and contacted Pam Monetti, the administrative aide to U.S. Congressman Phil Hare, both of whom Brian knows.  They took the next steps in the process, and it wasn’t too long before I was notified that I was definitely in the running.  I owe all three of them a big ‘thank-you’ for making this happen.

“I really wanted to help decorate the White House, but I didn’t want to get my hopes too high.  Even after I found out that I was a finalist and just needed to clear security, I wasn’t 100 percent sure.

“When I heard last week that I had been selected, I was ecstatic.  It’s an honor for me, personally, but I think it will be good for Carlinville, as well.  People will be asking where each team member is from, and when I tell them where I’m from, they’re going to learn where Carlinville is, what we do, and what we’re all about.

“I’m not nervous yet, but I probably will be when I get there and meet all of the talented people I’ll be working with.  It would be great to meet the President and his family, too.  We’ll see what happens.”

Besides managing her two businesses, Zilm is also a member of the Carlinville Business Action Association, the Zion Lutheran Church, and president of the Carlinville Christmas Market Foundation, a non-profit organization that plans, organizes, and produces the Carlinville Christmas Market festival the first full weekend in December. 

“The timing of this White House decorating adventure is good.  I’ll be home for Thanksgiving Day with my family, then in Washington, DC, for several days, and then be back in time to help with our Christmas Market festival the next weekend.  This will be the Market’s 20th anniversary, and I want to be there to help celebrate.”