Eisenhower National Historic Site - Eisenhower Home Decorated for the Holidays (U.S. National Park Service)

The National Park Service invites you to celebrate Christmas with Gettysburg's First Family at the Eisenhower National Historic Site, December 1 through 31, 2006. The celebration includes a holiday reception on Saturday, December 9, featuring refreshments provided by Gettysburg Tours, Inc.

The Eisenhower home is decorated for the holidays in the Eisenhower tradition with a Williamsburg-style Della Robbia wreath to welcome visitors at the front door. Inside the Eisenhower home, Mamie Eisenhower's love of Christmas decorating is evident with mistletoe, wreaths, and poinsettias, while a candy cane-covered Christmas tree surrounded by presents brightens the living room. A life size Santa enlivens the casual atmosphere of the Eisenhower's porch and gifts of sugar cookies and plum pudding arrayed in the kitchen await the arrival of the Eisenhower grandchildren.

Christmas gift prints of the President's paintings as well as the Eisenhowers' specially designed White House Christmas cards are on exhibit. Some original decorations including a 1950s Christmas shadow box handmade for the Eisenhowers are also displayed. The dining room table set for Christmas dinner and the Eisenhowers' Christmas records playing in the background add to the holiday atmosphere. Park interpreters are on hand to share Eisenhower family recollections of Christmas in Gettysburg.

The Eisenhower National Historic Site is open daily with shuttle buses leaving the National Park Service Visitor Center at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Admission is $5.50 for adults, $4.00 for youth ages 13-16, and $3.00 for children ages 6 –12. For the holiday reception on December 9, shuttle buses will run once an hour between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The Site is closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.