On Moving Day for 2 First Families, a Bit of Magic by 93 Pairs of Hands

[IndianaGreen]

Interesing piece in NY Times about what we are going to see shortly:

On Moving Day for 2 First Families, a Bit of Magic by 93 Pairs of Hands

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: January 19, 2009


Betty Ford, first lady, did some last-minute checking of White House mementoes
on Jan. 19, 1977, the eve of Jimmy Carter’s inauguration and her departure with
President Gerald R. Ford.

It helps, of course, that there is little, if any, furniture to move; the White House maintains a warehouse of antiques and furnishings for presidents to choose from. When the Bushes arrived in 2001, they brought with them just one piece, “a special chest of drawers” that had belonged to the president’s grandmother, Ms. McDonough said.

The Obamas are leaving all their furniture at their house in Chicago.

“That is their home base — their Crawford, if you will,” said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, press secretary to Michelle Obama. “They are bringing their clothes, pictures, creature comforts for their 10- and 7-year-olds, stuffed animals and games, those little touches that make a new house feel like home.”

While the move may look seamless from the outside, there have been glitches over the years.

In 1989, when George H. W. Bush was inaugurated, some of his grandchildren, including Barbara and Jenna, the now-grown daughters of the current President Bush, grew cold and tired at the parade and arrived at the White House hours ahead of schedule. A quick-thinking Mr. Walters, the chief usher, sent the girls to the White House floral shop for a fast lesson in flower arranging and then showed them the White House bowling alley.

And when Bill Clinton was inaugurated in 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s personal assistant decided to hand-carry Mrs. Clinton’s inaugural ball gown from Blair House to the Executive Mansion for safekeeping. Mrs. Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham, put it away — unbeknownst to the residence staff. When Mrs. Clinton went to get dressed, the gown was nowhere to be found.

“It was found in a matter of 15 minutes,” Mr. Walters said, “but it was 15 minutes of sheer panic.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20move.html?_r=1