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Press Releases » Staff and Volunteers Team Up for “Decorating Day” at Montreat Conference Center
Staff and Volunteers Team Up for “Decorating Day” at Montreat Conference Center
Each year, a few weeks before Christmas, something extraordinary happens at Montreat Conference Center. Employees turn off their computers; business attire is replaced with jeans and sweaters – usually in festive shades of red or green; and the entire staff, along with conference center volunteers, congregates in the lobby of Assembly Inn for Montreat Conference Center’s annual holiday “Decorating Day!”
Under the guidance of Event Coordinator Wanda Barber, trees are decorated, garland is strung, and wreaths are hung. Everyone has a job on Decorating Day, including Vice President for Program Development and Marketing Merri Bass, who was in charge of untangling dozens of strings of Christmas lights this year. “I’m pretty sure these things [the lights] come to life in their boxes and knot themselves up again after we put them away neatly for the summer,” quipped Bass over a twinkling tangle. A special team led by conference center volunteer Ann Craven takes charge of constructing the brilliant red poinsettia tree, a special feature at the Inn throughout the holidays. The conference center maintenance crew festoons porch railings, windows, and doorways with fresh green wreaths. In the kitchen, a hearty pizza lunch is prepared for the hungry workers.
“Assembly Inn is always lovely,” observed Barber at the end of this year’s Decorating Day, “but during the holidays, thanks to everyone’s hard work, it’s absolutely enchanting.”
Montreat Conference Center’s Assembly Inn is decorated annually in preparation for a variety of holiday gatherings, including the elegant “Candlelight Dinner” (on December 7 this year), the “Service of Lessons and Carols” (December 9), and the popular new “Soup ‘n’ Singing” (also December 9, following Lessons and Carols). For more information, download our holiday schedule or see our calendar.
Check out our Decorating Day photo album!