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Couple treated like royalty at The White House
It all started last summer, when the White House sent out large Christmas ball ornaments to all the sites in the National Park system asking that they be decorated to represent every place in the system. Park Ranger Carlin Timmons enlisted her husband Clyde for decorating. The couple learned in October the two ornaments they painted, one representing Fort Sumter and one for the Charles Pinckney site in Charleston, were chosen for this year's celebration called "Holiday in the National Parks." The tree went on display in the Blue Room of the White House last week with a reception for the artists and national park personnel who participated. "The reception included about 400 people, and we each had a photo- op with Laura Bush," reported Carlin. "Then we viewed the tree and had party refreshments. Mrs. Bush gave a little talk from the grand staircase. We found a spot in the hallway where Jimmy Carter's portrait hangs, right in front of her, so we said we were having lunch with Jimmy as well as Laura.
"Since we were allowed to bring a guest, we took along my mother, Oriel Morris, who is 85 and lives in Arlington. She was the tour guide who got us through the D.C. Metro system and then on foot to the White House. "It was a very special occasion, a festive party atmosphere with no politics and no official statements. I had not been in the White House since I was a schoolgirl a long time ago, and of course everything looked beautiful with the holiday decorations," said Carlin. Clyde's painting of Fort Sumter was chosen to represent South Carolina. It can be seen on the White House Web site along with the other state symbols.
Clyde Timmons grew up in Columbia, the son of Dr. James
and Mary Ellen Timmons. He and Carlin now live on Sullivan's Island where he is
a landscape designer and she is a park ranger assigned to Fort Sumter.
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