Happy Birthday Abe & so on!
If you are from anywhere near central Illinois you know that February 12th was the birthday of our 16th President. Above is a statue of Lincoln outside of the Lincoln Heritage Museum. On Lincoln’s Birthday there are any number of Lincoln sites to visit in central Illinois to celebrate the birthday of our famous son.
Monday, Feb. 15th is President’s Day and the day is celebrated, the schools and banks are closed and no mail is delivered. The 15th is also George Washington’s Birthday, the first president of the United States of America.
As we ponder the presidential election in 2016, it is interesting to look back and see who our presidents were and where they came from. Were they farmers, lawyers, were they married, did they serve in a war, did they have children and what did they believe in? All these questions roll around in my brain like dice toss from a Yahtzee roll. Do the presidents we elect come to power because of a fluke, like the roll of the dice, or was it a carefully thought out process by the voters and those in power that nominated the candidates in the first place? I really don’t know. 2016 brings candidates unlike those that have gone before, we will just have to see how this political theater plays out.
What will you do to celebrate President’s day? Did you celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday? I admit to letting Lincoln’s birthday pass by without a lot of effort on my part, but I think I will ponder a bit of Washington’s birthday and try to do something patriotic on Monday to remember the day. Thank a solder, salute the flag, or maybe, I will just rise in the morning, turn to my spouse and break into God Bless America!
A couple of weeks ago, I was antiquing with my friend Annie Jansen and at a cool shop in Bloomington, Illinois I ran across a book couldn’t resist, I had to have it. Now I will leave you with a couple facts about presidents that the author David Louis imparted. First, “Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthday is a legal holiday in the Virgin Islands.”
Second, “The teddy bear was named for Theodore Roosevelt. When presented with a koala from Australia, Roosevelt whose fondness for animals was well known so praised the creature that a copy of it was made for children. Called the “teddy bear” in the President’s honor, the toy soon caught on and became a standard item on every child’s shelf.”
And last, “Grover Cleveland is the only United States President to have been married in the White House.”
Mull it over and make President’s day your own!
