By TERESSA GENETTI-SCOTT
teressa@du2.byu.edu
From the elegant burgundy ballrooms to the teddy bear offices, Lori Jenkins, manager of Campus Craft and Floral, has put the special touch into the Christmas season at BYU for the past 10 years.
'It involves a lot more than people think. I have to order, store and label everything. You never know what's been broken, and it takes literally days just to fluff all the trees,' said Jenkins, who started preparing for the holiday season in February.
Jenkins said she tries to use a variety of decorations on campus to accommodate for everyone's taste, which include everything from burgundy and blues for the boys to pink and gold for the girls.
'For many of the students its hard to be away, especially around Christmas. It's hard not have the homey feel you are used to,' Jenkins said.
Although the decorations cost a great deal, Jenkins said the university recovers most or all of the money from renting out decorated rooms in the Ernest L. Wilkinson Center.
'There are a lot of businesses who find it easier to get a room that is already decorated,' Jenkins said.
Jenkins works heavily with the custodians, who bring the decorations out of storage and take full responsibility for fluffing fake tree branches. In addition, Jenkins is helped by a small crew who used to do admissions before the process was computerized.
Eileen Johnson, one of these decorators, said she started to helping out about 12 years ago. During Johnson's first year she helped to create her favorite decoration. The decorations are the 3-foot dolls made of paper rafia, tomato trellises and mop hair displayed across from the Cougareat.
'The very best reward is to see the students' reaction. It really brings the Christmas spirit into the Wilkinson Center,' Johnson said.
Johnson said the nativity scene on the second floor of the Wilkinson also helped to bring her into the Christmas spirit.
'I remember when we unpacked it. I sat there and cried when the baby Jesus was unwrapped,' Jenkins said.
Students living in the dorms have also had a little help getting into the Christmas spirit. Each hall in the dorms has a hall president in charge of spreading the Christmas cheer.
Justin Mellor, 18, a freshman from Meridian,Idaho, majoring in accounting, is a hall president in Heritage Halls. He said the guys on his floor were not very interested in making a lot of decorations, but that didn't stop them from making some paper stockings and decorating a Christmas tree.
'I think everyone misses that home and holiday feeling. Decorating helps put us into the giving spirit,' he said.
Kim Dorff, 18, a freshman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., majoring in music education, said a bunch of girls from her floor went in together to buy a few decorations, including miniature Christmas trees, wreaths and silver balls for the windows.
'For me, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It's such a tradition for me to decorate that I couldn't imagine not doing it,' she said.