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The National Park Service invites you to celebrate Christmas with Gettysburg’s First Family at the Eisenhower National Historic Site, December 1 through 31, 2009. The celebration includes a holiday reception on Saturday, December 12, 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 Eisenhowers’ 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 Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. On December 24, buses leave at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5.00 for youth ages 6 -12. For the holiday reception on December 12, 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. For more information contact the Eisenhower National Historic Site at 717/ 338-9114 or visit the website at www.nps.gov/eise |
Last updated: February 26, 2015