• Former Star Valley resident, Tara Boss, gets an experience of a lifetime as she decorates the White House for the Christmas season

With patriotism, community values, service and creativity at the forefront, Tara Boss took a chance to become a volunteer to decorate at the White House.

Boss, who lived and taught in Star Valley before moving to Utah five years ago, was selected as one of the White House’s official Christmas decorating volunteers this year. She is currently owner of Boss Lady Dessert Studio, a bakery where she also teaches classes. She also works as a Disney and Universal travel planner — a role she says grew naturally out of a lifelong love for Disneyland.

Boss recently turned 50, and was given the news of being accepted as a volunteer just in time to help her celebrate. She is married and part of a blended family with seven children. While her life is busy, she said her focus has always remained on family — and service.

Boss first learned about the decorating opportunity through a social media post from the First Lady.

“I thought, ‘That would be so fun, but there’s no way I would ever get selected,’” she said.

Still, she applied in August, motivated by her love of history and country.

“I’m a huge patriot — I love this country,” Boss said. “It’s the people’s house.” With her love of history, she thought how it would be amazing to be a part of this experience and small piece of history.

Months later, an unexpected email arrived.

At first, she thought it was just spam. “The sender was a weird address, but the icon was the White House,” she recalled. She was relieved to have clicked on it. When the email was opened, she saw, “Congratulations, you’ve been selected.” – pending  background checks.

She was able to travel with her husband and was on her way to Washington D.C. on November 23. Volunteering through December 1, with Thanksgiving day off, Boss recalled some of the extensive work that was done to create and install the festive decor with the army of volunteers.

Out of more than 12,000 applicants, 145 volunteers were intentionally chosen from 47 states and territories represented – all  with different backgrounds. Boss said that diversity became one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.

Before flying to D.C., another volunteer had reached out, hoping to find other volunteers. Boss replied and they became fast friends and got to meet in-person in Washington D.C., although they were not organized into the same team.

Making lifetime friends, Boss was happy to share many moments–rewarding and stressful– with members of her team. “My team [of 10] became so close,” she said. She and her husband were able to spend Thanksgiving with strangers, but Boss shared how “They were my family.”

Despite different life stories and viewpoints, Boss said the volunteers bonded quickly over their common patriotic purpose. Lifelong friends were made.

Boss shares how she is a very outgoing and social person, “but you never know how receptive you are going to be to other people” She then continued to share how her experience became so much richer as “You find things in common with people you wouldn’t think you would have anything in common with.”

“It’s something I will treasure for the rest of my life.”

Much of the work was done outside of the White House.

The work began early on the first day, when volunteers met at 6 a.m. before being bused to a warehouse facility where all décor elements were stored and prepared.

Each team had a specific role. Boss was assigned to the “Shoppers” team, responsible for packing and organizing décor for delivery to different rooms in the White House. Some things would be specific and others would allow some creative freedom. On Tuesday evening, before boxes were delivered from the warehouse to the White House, the secret service had their trained dogs check all the items that had been packed. By Wednesday, the work moved inside the White House itself. Boss and her team were stationed in the East Room, where four 14-foot Christmas trees were installed. Boss laughed as she said, “When you find yourselves with your heads all within this big, 14-foot tree, you become really intimate with the tree and with the other people surrounding you.” Laughter and hard work can really bond people together that you would think wouldn’t have anything in common.

She spent an entire day helping string tree lights — and the job still wasn’t finished by day’s end.

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Boss was decorating the 14-foot tree when a branch caught her in the eye and knocked out a contact lens. After a bit of searching and teamwork, it was eventually found.

Through many laughs, sweat, tears, and partial blindness, the job was eventually completed.

“Everything is crafted,” Boss said. “Every bow is tied, ornaments are fastened with wire.” If it could be done by hand, it was.

Boss had some experience in floral design and baking artistry, so she, along with another volunteer, was given creative freedom to help design four East Room mantles, working with metallic gold elements and detailed ribbon work. “It was amazing to be able to fully design something from start to finish.” The East Room theme honored America’s upcoming 250th anniversary and the signing of the Constitution, making every design choice deeply symbolic.

“Everything represents something,” she said. “Every single element.”

The hours were long. Volunteers worked late into Saturday and Sunday evenings, including to 8:30 p.m. The large, detailed gingerbread house was brought in toward the end of the process, and a reception followed for volunteers who completed their service, which included Boss. She was very excited to see the First Lady and explained how well the volunteers were treated by all of the White House staff and secret service. “I felt so safe and it was so incredible.”

Despite the excitement, one of the most meaningful moments came quietly.

“The night before the party, when it was done, and you could just stop and look,” Boss said. “You’re so busy the whole time.”

Standing in silence inside the finished White House décor, the weight of the moment settled in.

“Wow,” she recalled thinking, realizing where she was standing and that she had “contributed to the beauty of this building and the calm.”

Boss shared how she was humbled and honored to work among American Gold Star Mothers, who shared some of their stories.

Though she now lives in Utah, Boss said her Star Valley roots shaped how she approached the experience — with humility, hard work, and care for others.

“To come home and see other people at home talk about it and ooh and awe – was cool.”

She was recently back in Star Valley for a wedding and baptism and hopes her story inspires others at home.

“I don’t serve in the military, but I feel like the most patriotic thing we can all do is talk to each other and get to know each other.”

“Regardless, we are all just brothers and sisters… The most important thing I did was make connections and bridge those gaps and realize we’re all in this together.”

She hopes her story inspires others to reach out, build relationships, and find common ground. Sometimes that once-in-a-lifetime moment really does arrive–even appearing as a White House icon in your inbox..