AUGUSTA, Maine — The Blaine House is a mansion, but certainly far more understated than the homes being built by the wealthy today. The residence of Maine governors is elegant in the old style, befitting a house built 190 years ago.
Part of the house also has to be quite public, as a range of functions, meetings, and receptions are held there each year.
That means the house needs to be dressed up for the holidays, and that task is eagerly undertaken by the Kennebec Garden Club. They’ve been doing it for at least 30 years, as far back as any of the current members recall. That means the past four governors have all had their official residence adorned with greens, ribbons, and all sorts of natural decorations by the volunteer team.
“It's just something we started doing and we love doing it,” Penny Pray, a longtime club member and this year’s chair for the Blaine House project, said. “The Blaine House as far as we know, is always anticipating we will do it.”
The club and the Blaine House director chose a theme for the décor, which is Maine children’s book authors. Then the group of 25-30 garden club members immersed themselves in books and ideas, some discovering books while others grabbed for favorites.
That included one team of four women decorating a tree to highlight the classic “Blueberries for Sal”, by Robert McCloskey, a classic Maine book for generations.
They cut paper decorations into shapes of bears, bookmarks, and other images connected to the story, and even found small blueberry bucket decorations to hang beside them.
Laughter echoed through the reception room as the group hung the many pieces on the 8-foot tree donated by the Maine Christmas Tree Growers Association.
“Do you like it?” They were asked as the tree neared completion.
“We do, we do,” chimed in several members of the tree team, adding that they have had a lot of laughs during the many hours planning and making the decorations.
Other rooms and spaces showcased other authors and books.
The long dining table in the state dining room featured a row of centerpieces made by Karen Baker, inspired by the winter scenes and animals originally painted for books by longtime Maine resident Dahlov Ipcar.
“The painting was very time-consuming, I’m not an artist so there were quite a few that got disposed of,” Baker laughed.
Baker described how she created the tiny animals on the centerpieces. They were modeled after the imaginative animal creations by Ipcar in several books. They can also be seen in one of her valuable, full-size paintings that hangs over the fireplace in the Blaine House sunroom.
In the mansion’s elegant hall, where guests typically enter the house, another garden club team installed more typical Christmas decorations, which also held a message.
Their chosen author was poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and his poem “Christmas Bells.”
“And the saying peace on earth, goodwill to men, that came from the poem Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” explained Debby Sherman.
They wrapped the long stair rail in garland and lights, then made swags with pine and bells to hang throughout the space.
For those who paused in the hall to enjoy the decorations, and perhaps read Longfellow’s poem on display, there was an added message.
The Portland poet wrote “Christmas Bells” in 1863, just a month after his son had been seriously wounded in battle. Some 20 years later, his verse was set to music for a hymn, now the classic Christmas carol, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.”
There is celebration and discovery in all this year’s décor, as visitors can enjoy and be reminded of classic stories, and maybe be introduced to new ones, as Maine’s best-known house puts on its annual show, thanks to all the volunteers from the Garden Club.
“We love it,” Sherman said with a laugh. “We’ve got the best group of positive, excited people you can ever imagine.”