Decorating from Worcester to the
 White House

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

A local florist who decorates at Catholic institutions in Worcester spent Thanksgiving weekend helping prepare the White House for Christmas.

“It was an incredible experience ... to see something on such a large scale,” said Sally Jablonski, a member of St. John Parish and owner of Herbert E. Berg Florist Inc. both in Worcester.  

“All the volunteers worked together,” she said. “Everybody was pushing to get it done. We all like to work with our hands. I never looked at it as work. I thought it was fun and inspiring.”

One thing that inspired this history-lover was seeing portraits of former presidents and first ladies. She was also blessed by the people there now.

“After all the application processes, being there, going through security and meeting people from the White House ... Everybody was very welcoming,” she said.  Photo courtesy of Sally Jablonski
 
The White House Christmas theme “Season of Peace and Light” is portrayed in the East Room, right, which Sally Jablonski helped decorate.

“Everyone was very appreciative of having the volunteers there.” The White House reported that there were more than 300 volunteers.

“This would not be possible without your work,” First Lady Jill Biden told them, in remarks at the unveiling of the decorations Monday. She said they traded hours with their families for gluing, and wiring ornaments to trees, but that friendships are made and magic happens during that time.

The volunteers were at that reception, Ms. Jablonski said. The teams, including hers, called Frosty, had their photos taken with the First Lady, but she did not get to meet her or President Joe Biden personally. She said she saw them from a distance Sunday at the displaying of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the White House South Lawn, which the president invited the volunteers to attend.

Ms. Jablonski said many florists aspire to decorate the White House and she knew of a couple local ones who did so in the past. For her it was a life-long dream.  

She’d graduated from St. Mary Elementary School and Holy Name Central Catholic High School, both in Worcester. She earned her associate’s degree at Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst in 1980, and her bachelor’s in plant and soil science from UMass Amherst in 1982.

She aimed to have a greenhouse business, but greenhouses were disappearing from the area then, she said. Herbert Berg, who’d started a floral shop in 1935, was looking for someone to buy his business. She bought it in 1995, after working for him for 10 years.

Besides creating and selling wreaths and arrangements at the shop, some to local parishes, she is hired to decorate places, including her church, St. Vincent Hospital’s chapel, and spaces at the College of the Holy Cross, St. Francis Rehab and Nursing Center and the Worcester Art Museum, she said. Her four staff members help.

Ms. Jablonski also shares her knowledge. She recently taught people at Christ the King Parish in Worcester how to make Thanksgiving centerpieces, having given a similar class there another year.  

Last year she helped members of the Guild of Our Lady of Providence make boxwood trees (greens formed into a Christmas tree shape).  

She also teaches a monthly flower-arranging class at the Worcester Senior Center, which she mentioned when seeking to help decorate the White House.  

“I wrote to Jill Biden the summer of 2021,” she said. “I didn’t hear anything until the summer of 2022. Then the White House called me on my cell phone – I thought it was spam – and told me to fill out an application online. So, I did that.”

Included in her application was her explanation of why she wanted to help decorate. She said she told about teaching at the senior center “to inspire older people to keep learning and stay active.” She thought this important to mention, since Mrs. Biden is an educator.  

“I made it to the second round of cuts and I was not selected,” Ms. Jablonski said. “I tried again the summer of 2023 and I was not selected.”

This past summer she filled out the application, then sought help from Congressman Jim McGovern’s office to get her information to the right people. He and an aide were as excited as she was when she was accepted, she said.

Ms. Jablonski said she then received several emails from the White House about protocol, including the fact that “they’re locking up our cell phones” to prevent photo taking until the completion of the decorating.

“Everything’s top secret,” she said, before leaving for Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving.
“It’s amazing,” she said after returning home Monday. “The White House was set up as a workshop. ... It looks like a big craft night.” She was impressed with how much was done right there. She said she worked 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, but some volunteers were there all week.

Ms. Jablonski said this year’s theme, “Season of Peace and Light,” was portrayed by the light-reflecting silver and gold Mylar strands, shiny balls, snowflakes and stars, which she helped hang in the East Room, where there was also a Nativity scene. Peace was portrayed by paper doves in various places.

White House decorating isn’t Ms. Jablonski’s only special recognition. She said that in 2018 and 2022 she was in the top 10 in the United States in the floral design competition FTD America’s Cup.  

This year in The Newport Flower Show in Rhode Island she won Best of Show, first place in her category, and excellence in floral design, she said.

Volunteering in Washington, D.C., was an inspiration for future work.

“I learned several techniques that I definitely want to try,” she said.

She would love to decorate the White House again, she said, adding, “I’m going to apply next year.”

Meanwhile, she is planning decorations inspired by the White House for her shop’s open house from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow.