While visions of the nation's business dance through his head, President Obama can consult directly with the world's top elf, thanks to a Shiloh, Ohio area business.

A "Santa's Workshop," built by Ellis Zimmerman and his workers at Lakeside Cabins in Richland County is located on the "ellipse" of the White House, right next to the National Christmas Tree. The structure was built in November of 2008, and then an addition to the building was built this year, making Santa's entire dwelling 12 feet wide and 48 feet long.

Zimmerman received construction help from his own crew of elves -- Clint Williams, Eric Zimmerman, David Stauffer, Kenneth Stauffer, Lee Zimmerman, Lamar Sauder, Edward Nolt and Richard Martin.

The custom-made Santa's workshop was designed and built for a Boulder, Colo., company called Spirit Elements, which sold it to Underwriters' Laboratories (UL), which is responsible for the White House display.

Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a leader in product safety testing and certification services for more than 115 years, has signed on as the premier sponsor of the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in President's Park in Washington, D.C. through 2011. Presented by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, the annual celebration is the official start to the holiday season in the nation's capital. As part of the sponsorship, UL is also providing Santa's Workshop at the base of the National Christmas Tree, where children and families can experience the wonder of the North Pole and have their picture taken with Santa Claus throughout the holiday season.

Santa's Workshop will be open through Dec. 24 during these hours:

* Monday-Thursday -- 4:30-6:30 p.m. and 7-9:30 p.m.

* Friday-Sunday -- Noon-2:15 p.m., 2:30-4:30 p.m., 5:30-7:45 p.m. and 8-9:30 p.m.

* Christmas Eve -- Noon-3 p.m.

"Underwriters Laboratories is committed to keeping families safe this holiday season and year round," said Underwriters Laboratories CEO Keith E. Williams. "UL is proud to be the premier sponsor of the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, reminding all Americans to have a safe and bright holiday season."

The premier sponsorship of the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is part of a national safety campaign by Underwriters Laboratories to help consumers protect their families and their homes this holiday season. This national campaign provides consumers with simple and practical ways to make their homes safe by ensuring their holiday lights, decorations and other electrical products have the UL Mark. For valuable safety information for keeping your home safe throughout the holidays and year round, please visit www.SafetyAtHome.com.

Underwriters Laboratories is an independent product safety organization that has been testing products and writing safety standards for more than a century. UL is using the house to not only entertain ticket-purchasing young guests, but to promote safety in the home during the holidays.

Manufactured entirely of wood and asphalt shingles, the Santa's Workshop is actually a log cabin with dormer windows on the roof.

Zimmerman said the exterior of Santa's Workshop displays signs containing safety messages, while the inside is designed to look like a mail processing center and elf work area, as well as a photo set for pictures with the jolly old elf, himself.

"They kind of waited until the last minute to order it," Zimmerman said. "It took us four or five days of hard work and overtime to get it done."

Once completed, the Santa workshop was loaded onto one of Lakeside Cabins' delivery trailers and Zimmerman hauled it to a Maryland town on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. He said an event planning company, the same one that put on the president's inauguration, then completed the delivery to the White House grounds where a large forklift was used to put the building in its special spot.

"The delivery process went smoothly," he said. "We were not able to be part of the crew that took it the rest of the way to the White House, however."

Zimmerman said the original building was much more elaborate than the addition.

"We re-stained the original building so it would match the addition," Zimmerman said. "Then we helped fit the addition onto the original and made sure it all looked right."

Zimmerman said both sections of the building were custom built to be disassembled for storage.

"It's kind of exciting," Zimmerman said. "It's pretty neat to do that kind of project. It's certainly not something you do every day."

"It's in his front yard, but I don't know if the president will get to see it, or have his picture taken with Santa. Maybe his kids will," he added.

Spirit Elements has a three-year contract with Underwriters Laboratories, and Zimmerman is unsure what, if any, he will be asked to do for next year.

Located at the corner of Ohio 13 and Free Road, Lakeside Cabins has been in business nearly eight years. It is one of many family-owned businesses located near the village of Shiloh in the scenic, rural area of northwest Richland County.

Originally, the Zimmermans built backyard playhouses, and then expanded to storage sheds. Today, Lakeside Cabins can build custom cabins and storage buildings.

"We can pretty much make whatever the customer wants," Zimmerman said.

History of the

National Christmas Tree

According to A Brief Story of the National Christmas Tree by C.L. Arbelbide, in November of 1923, First Lady Grace Coolidge gave permission for the District of Columbia Public Schools to erect a Christmas tree on the ellipse south of The White House. The organizers named the tree the "National Christmas Tree."

That Christmas Eve, at 5 p.m., President Calvin Coolidge walked from The White House to the ellipse and "pushed the button" to light the cut 48-foot Balsam fir as 3,000 enthusiastic spectators looked on. The tree, donated by Middlebury College, was from the president's native state of Vermont.

From 1924-1953 live trees, in various locations around and on the White House grounds, were lit on Christmas Eve. In 1954, the ceremony returned to the ellipse and expanded its focus. Local civic and business groups created the "Christmas Pageant of Peace." Smaller live trees representing the 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia formed a "Pathway of Peace."

On Dec. 17, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower lit the cut tree donated by the people of Michigan. Cut trees continued to be used until 1973.

In 1941, an Oriental spruce was lit in December 1941 by both President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Presently at the center of the season's celebration is the living National Christmas Tree, a Colorado blue spruce from York, Penn., planted on the ellipse Oct. 20, 1978. The tree stands as a daily reminder of the holiday spirit and of the tradition in which each succeeding president has participated since 1923.

GE Brings National Tree to Light

If households across the nation are working to "reuse and recycle" and reduce energy consumption, why shouldn't the National Christmas Tree do it, too?

This was the inspiration behind GE's design of the 2009 National Christmas Tree, now the most energy efficient in history, consuming about 6,000 watts compared to last year's 18,000 watts. This year's tree will be outfitted entirely in LEDs and will feature background lighting, a topper and ornaments all utilized in past designs.

"This is the first year that ornaments from previous years will be combined to create a whole new look for the National Christmas Tree," said Mary Beth Gotti, manager of GE's Lighting Institute.

For the last three years, GE has been gradually trimming the tree with more LED (light emitting diode) lighting, which is powered by tiny computer chips, and has about 10 times the life of traditional incandescent lighting. This year, the ornaments will also be retrofitted with LED bulbs to achieve the significant additional wattage reduction.

The lighting design features 750 strings of white LED lights, half of which are C5 LED lights reused from last year, and half of which are new LED crystal minis, giving the lighting a more three-dimensional look. Each string only costs 14 cents to run for the entire holiday season. The topper for the tree is the same heirloom topper used for the last three years -- a 42-inch star made with industrial grade, warm white GE Tetra LEDs. The ornaments all come from the tree's recent history, with gold stars from 2008; white stars from 2004; and red and gold starbursts from 1998.

"Bringing out ornaments from storage was just the right thing to do," said Gotti. "They are sturdy enough to be used multiple times, and updating them with LED technology provides impressive energy savings."

GE has been designing the National Christmas Tree since 1962, producing and donating the lighting and decorations.