Adesit will help decorate the White House for the holidays

November 26, 2022

It looks like the first family won’t be the only Delaware touch in the White House this year. An Odessa man has been selected as a White House volunteer decorator for the 2022 holiday season.

Brian Miller of Dover, Deputy Curate at Historical Odessa Foundationis among 100 volunteers chosen to decorate the People’s House during Thanksgiving week.

Miller applied as a volunteer last year but was not selected. Then he heard of others who applied multiple times and were later selected. With his wife’s encouragement, he decided to try again this year.

Second time really is the charm. While watching TV with his wife one evening two weeks ago, Miller received an official email saying he would be on his way to the White House for the holiday.

“It’s a tremendous honor”

“As I told everyone, I was absolutely speechless,” Miller said of his choice. “It’s a tremendous honor and I’m very surprised. “I was speechless only three times in my life – when my wife walked down the aisle and when my two children were born,” he admitted.

Miller left for Washington on Sunday and was scheduled to begin installing the decorations on Monday. He will work on them until Sunday, November 27, taking a break for Thanksgiving itself.

This tradition began with President Benjamin Harrison and his family in 1889 and has continued since the Hoover administration.

At the time of the interview, Miller did not yet know this year’s People’s House theme, but said he was “happy to do whatever” was asked of him and was excited to meet other volunteers.

He said taking on the task as Delaware’s friend at the First Family House adds to his awe at the experience, especially after seeing the Bidens around the state for years.

What’s on Brian Miller’s resume?

After a 30-year teaching career, Miller began working at the Historic Odessa Foundation in 1991 as an assistant professor before joining the museum as curator after it opened.

Since then, he has spent the past 17 years lecturing, supervising docents, planning and designing exhibitions, dabbling in photography and window dressing in some of the Historic Odessa Foundation’s homes.

Every year, Miller selects a classic work of children’s literature for interpretation in one of the House Museums of Historic Odessa. Miller opened his interpretive holiday exhibit last week, which celebrates Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist through a series of vignettes and selected scenes.

As a volunteer decorator for the White House, he was thrilled to tackle a host of official decorating tasks this week.

“It’s about the first family and supporting our nation and being able to make a small contribution,” Miller said. “It’s such a high quality from what I’ve seen in the past. I always say it looks like the robes are hanging down. It is so beautiful, so tastefully done. It’s just so classic.”