New Baden florist to bring holiday cheer to White House, Christmas decorations to be unveiled Tuesday

Washington : Apna Punjab Media : A New Baden fifth-generation florist is putting southern Illinois on the map after being selected to help decorate the White House for Christmas. Dawn Ahner’s family business, Ahner’s Florist, has called New Baden home since 1940. Before that, the business was home to two generations in Kirkwood. “I can’t believe how much we’ve grown, I just cannot believe,” she said. “It’s been really a dream come true.” After bringing floristry to countless living rooms and offices around the St. Louis area for decades, she decided to apply to become a volunteer to help First Lady Jill Biden decorate the White House for Christmas, a tradition that dates back to the 1800s. I thought it was a very long shot,” she said. “The little southern Illinois girl is going to be able to get this.” After not giving it much thought, she was excited to open her email to learn she was one of around 300 volunteers selected out of thousands of applications. It was on my bucket list to be able to do something like this so I got this checked off my list,” she said. “It’s pretty exciting.”Ahner traveled to D.C. last weekend and has worked alongside other volunteers all week, ahead of the decorations official public unveiling on Tuesday, December 3rd.