AGOURA HILLS : President Will Not Accept Woman’s Gift
Helene Bullock bought a book on cross-stitching with the idea that her embroidered lyrics from Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)†would one day adorn a wall in President Clinton’s office.
But after the Agoura Hills resident and her husband spent well over 100 hours stitching and framing the 16-inch by 20-inch needlework, Bullock received some unwelcome news: The President isn’t accepting any gifts.
Presents to Clinton are catalogued and stored in a vault without him ever seeing them.
“I would be heartbroken to have spent all this time and have the President never see it,†Bullock said. “Being that it was homemade, I thought he would realize that it comes from the heart. . . . He seemed so much more open than other Presidents.â€
Victoria Zuckerman, White House volunteer spokeswoman, said Clinton receives hundreds of gifts by mail each week, many of them handcrafted.
“Some of these things are just beautiful,†Zuckerman said. “Unfortunately, there are just so many of them that we have to put them into storage.â€
Bullock said she was inspired to embroider the piece after “Don’t Stop . . . “ became the Clinton campaign’s theme song. Despite the fact that Clinton may never see her handiwork, Bullock said her support for the President has not wavered since she voted for him in November.
Meanwhile, she might send the stitching with her parents, who are traveling to the nation’s capital next month, hoping they will have better luck.
“I didn’t make the thing to keep it at home,†she said.
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