In one long night, workers deck the terminals to get spirits soaring
Cindy Davis’ phone rang one minute before midnight: a holiday quandary needed her attention.
“Stop right there. We’re on our way,” Davis said as she boarded the Skyway people mover at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The doors opened to a crew assembling a white, 16-foot Christmas tree — “It’s gorgeous,” Davis exclaimed. “Oh, my God, it’s beautiful” — and another crew adorning the walls with wreaths. One of the wreaths had spurred the phone call because it required a new hole in the wall. Davis took a moment, looked around and directed them to hang it on a window instead.
It was one of the mini Christmas miracles she created late Thursday and early Friday, all with pep in her step and periodic exclamations for creating that perfect selfie moment for some of the millions of passengers who will pour through the airport during the holiday season. Just as Santa Claus and his nine reindeer
(counting Rudolph) travel the world in one night, Davis, with her team of about 65 contract and airport workers, decked the terminals of Bush Intercontinental in just 14½ hours.
And while the holiday cheer is largely intended for travelers, airport workers also get their spirits lifted. Just a few hours after the decorations went up in Terminal D, an employee of SSP America, an operator of food and beverage brands at airports and other travel locations, noticed the five-foot-long red and gold bows and the wreaths with red and silver ornaments.
“It’s beautiful,” said Rosalie Hooper. “It’s different than last year.”
In the terminals decorated by the Houston Airport System, this is the first year decorations have been placed past security, and it required a new level of scrutiny. Workers with the decorating contractor, Always in Season, were escorted by vetted Houston Airport System employees. Houston Police Department officers and their k-9 companions inspected every ornament and ribbon that was to be carried past the security checkpoint.
After the decorations were unloaded and inside the airport, the workers settled into a rhythm, arranging décor around the surge of passengers from late evening arrivals and those sleeping in the terminals and Friday’s early-morning flights.
Davis, a sales consultant and designer at Always in Season, walked from group to group, delivering Subway sandwiches, answering questions and making minor fixes.
Smidge too low
Around 1:45 a.m., she was using zip ties to lower and secure the top portion of a too-tall Christmas tree in the hallway that connects the parking garage to Terminal A. Thirty minutes later, she was on the other side of security in that same terminal, standing on her tippy toes touching snowflakes that were hung a smidge too low.
With each move she would cheerfully call for Tim Graham, the Houston Airport System employee who escorted her and determined where she could or could not put holes in the walls. Tanisha Smith, another airport system employee who was in charge of the decorating contract, also accompanied them, clutching a warm Sprite that had been a consolation prize hours earlier when the vending machine denied her chips. She talked of a nap spot in Terminal A, but never got the chance to visit it, instead thanking other airport workers such as Nestor Rodriguez who had volunteered their time.
Rodriguez was supposed to end his shift at 9:30 p.m., but he stayed through the wee hours escorting decorating company workers. He’s done this for the past five or six years, saying the annual tradition helps him get into the holiday spirit.
At 3:30 a.m., Davis and her crew still had eight wreaths, nine chambeauxs — a glittery rod adorned with ornaments and glitter bows — and eight snowflakes to hang. It was after 6:30 a.m. when they left the airport.
Off to Hobby
After a few hours of sleep, Davis, who works just about every day but Sunday between Oct. 31 and Dec. 6 when Always in Season has more than 700 holiday installations, went to Hobby Airport to instill more holiday cheer.
Smith, who had bid her adieu around 2:30 a.m., returned to Terminal A at 10 a.m. Friday. She immediately heard, “Mommy, look!” and saw a child pointing at the giant ornament hanging from the ceiling.
“That brought a smile to my face,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to see and hear.”