COPLEY, Ohio — It began with a wish and has ended with a magical reality.
Jill Pangas is a designer from Copley. For years, she took a chance applying for her dream job.
"For a designer, I said, 'what's the ultimate Christmas design project I can do?' And I thought, 'designing for the White House!' For four years, I've been sending gifts and filling out applications."
A chance of a lifetime. Perhaps, one Jill would have missed if it wasn't for a friend. "I wasn't going to apply this year," she recalls. "But it was a designer from Columbus, he was the one who sent me the link through Facebook one evening and said, 'Jill, just go ahead and fill it out.' And I said 'okay!'"
Within a week, her wish came true.
Jill was one of 150 volunteers to receive an invitation from First Lady Jill Biden to decorate the White House. Volunteers were split into teams, tasked with decking the halls in different portions of the "president's palace." Jill was assigned to the Grand Foyer.
"We had a project leader and she had a book of exactly how the Grand Foyer is supposed to look like and we had to perfect that look for her," Jill explains.
Jill says what made the opportunity most extraordinary was this year's Christmas theme: We the people.
"I get chills every time I talk about this," she says proudly. "I was in charge of the two trees that have the Constitution wrapped around it."
Spanning beyond the decor is an important message. It's a reminder of what this holiday season is all about.
"We the people. We are important and she (First Lady Jill Biden) wanted to show in every room the things that hold families together," Jill adds. 'She had a children's theme where you read books together and then there was another theme for national parks, for families that go to national parks together. It was absolutely beautiful!"