The two-night event is the culmination of several months of planning and a final marathon week of decorating as volunteer elves deck the halls of the Renaissance Revival Victorian structure that has served as the home for every first family since 1872. Beginning the week of Thanksgiving, these talented volunteers work day and night for a week to transform the stately mansion into a Christmas castle.
The nine fireplace mantels throughout the three-story house are decorated in keeping with the theme for the season. One year the house featured toy soldiers while other years sported teddy bears or sugar plums. Colorful wired ribbons and plush bows are tucked amid greenery and candles, with poinsettias of red, pink and yellow transforming the spacious parlor, dining room and library into indoor flowerbeds.
This year, decorating will begin November 28, when trees arrive from across the state. A 30-foot red spruce, selected by the Missouri Department of Conversation following a state-wide search, will grace the lawn of the Mansion at the corner of Madison and East Capitol Streets. Inside the mansion, a 15-foot tree rises next to the grand stairway, accompanied by a 10-foot tree on the back porch and five six-foot trees throughout the first floor.
“Candlelight Tours is our favorite event of the year,” says Rebecca Gordon, executive director of Friends of the Missouri Governor’s Mansion. “We love welcoming visitors from all over the state.”
In 1974, Mrs. Bond also founded Friends of the Missouri Governor’s Mansion, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the preservation of the Mansion’s history through stewardship of the home’s interior, its historical collections and educational programs. Each year, Friends of the Missouri Governor’s Mansion volunteer docents welcome more than 70,000 people from around the world.
CHRISTMAS IN THE PEOPLE'S MANSION
Christmas celebrations in the Governor’s Mansion have generally been family gatherings with early residents of the executive home centering their holiday celebrations on children.
Mrs. Jane Francis, who served as first-lady from 1889-1893 even held a children’s party in the ballroom. Those attending were treated to a marionette show before receiving toys and fruits from Santa Claus.
The children of Gov. Herbert Hadley (1909-1913) put kernels of corn on the window ledge for Santa’s reindeer.
Mrs. Forrest Smith, whose husband served as governor from 1949-1953, strung holiday greeting cards along the banister of the grand stairway.
Gov. Forrest Donnell (1941-1945) always read the Christmas story from the Bible, and Gov. Joseph Folk (1905-1909) distributed oranges, dolls and firecrackers to children who visited the Mansion.
First Lady Carolyn Bond organized the first official Candlelight Tours, but the earliest record of a lighted Christmas display on the Mansion lawn was during the administration of Gov. Guy Park and First Lady Eleanora Park, who served from 1933-1937.
(This year’s Candlelight Tours takes place Friday, December 6 from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, December 7 from 2-4 p.m.)