A Camp David Wedding

On June 27 1992, Dorothy Bush LeBlond and Bobby Koch exchanged wedding vows during a ceremony held at the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.  It was the first wedding ever performed at the chapel.

The wedding festivities began at 4PM when arriving guests gathered at Laurel Lodge for refreshments while waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The Evergreen Chapel was decorated with peach roses. Music played above in the balcony and the bride came down the aisle escorted by her father President George H.W. Bush.  The bride wore a wedding dress designed by Arnold Scaasi with salmon chiffon and lace.

The reception was held behind the Aspen Lodge. Tables were set up for 130 guests on the terraces and around the pool. The White House chefs made a cake and cooked a buffet dinner which included fresh salmon that Senator Ted Stevens sent from Alaska. The Marine Band played country music.

Some White House staff members volunteered on the day of the event.  Off-duty White House butlers helped with serving the guests and some staff from the florist shop decorated the chapel and the reception tables.





Sources:  My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H.W. Bush;  Barbara Bush: A Memoir; The Baltimore Sun; The New York Times; White House

Sledding

President Bush goes sledding at Camp David with his daughter Doro in January 1991

Because of the hilly terrain, sledding is a popular winter activity at Camp David.

In 1991, President Bush went tobogganing with Arnold Schwarzenegger at Camp David.  Barbara Bush joined in the fun by riding down the hill in a saucer.

When it became clear that the First Lady was headed for a tree, the President's urgent call to  "Bail out! Bail out!" went unheeded. Unfortunately, she hit the tree and broke her leg.

This 1991 New York Times story describes the incident.

President Eisenhower watches his grandchildren sledding down the Aspen Lodge hill - March 1960

Children sledding down the hill behind the Aspen Lodge in 1962

President Carter sledding with daughter Amy and a friend at Camp David in February 1978

Sources: George Bush Library; Jimmy Carter Library; Eisenhower Presidential Library; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; White House; Barbara Bush: Matriarch of a Dynasty; New York Times