Day 5: June 25, 2010
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This the entrance to the Loveland Center. It's where the welcome banquet took place and it held the book room and art show. All of today's activities -- presentations, lunch, & banquet -- will be here. That's an 1850s railroad bridge beyond the 1935 Ford.
Duane Paulson started things off with Lincoln and the Lincoln Highway in Dixon. Second up was Cynthia Ogorek with The Lincoln Highway Around Chicago: A Traveler's Guide to the Lincoln Highway.
These pictures are a bit out of sequence since I slipped upstairs to the museum between Duane and Cynthia's presentations. Displays related to local history include the detailed "The Beginning of Dixon" diorama and the early John Deere "market" plow. "Market" plows were smaller models intended for use in gardens. According to a sign, if you didn't have an appropriate dog at hand, a sheep or goat could be used to power the butter churn. The flowers in the last picture are made of goose feathers. I've seen them made from human hair and various seeds but not feathers.
With half an hour to spare after eating lunch, Don and I drove to the nearby statue of Abraham Lincoln as a soldier in the Black Hawk War. On return, we parked near the tall tear-drop trailer. Partly because some friends had recently owned a similar one, I decided to snap a couple of pictures. As I did so, the trailer spoke to me. I eventually figured out that it was the trailer's occupant, who I had not noticed, doing the talking. He verified that it was a T@B brand trailer and said he really liked it except he had the "two feet disease". I believe that's exactly the disease that those friends (the Bremers who I ate with last week at Ku-Ku Burger) had. It's when you frequently wish you had just two feet more space.
Pennsylvania's Olga Herbert gave the first presentation of the afternoon. She told about the Lincoln Highway board game that was created and provided to many schools and about the roadside giants projects that involved high school students. Teams of students designed and constructed modern roadside giants and placed them along the Highway. Mindy Crawford, another Pennsylvanian, spoke of 2010 Preservation Opportunities Along the Lincoln Highway and Bonnie Heimbachm of Illinois, spoke of Murals and Gazebos in Illinois. We got to see some of the new murals and gazebos on the bus tours. Bonnie also mentioned the upcoming American Road Foundation Conference and Rollin Southwell assisted by passing out brochures. Since I'd not yet photographed the fellow I'd carried the package to from Niland's, I did so now.
After the last presentation, there was enough open time to allow us to visit Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home. The restored house contains none of the Regan's original furniture but furnishings and fixtures do match Ronald and brother Neil's memories as close as possible. On the day of his visit, the president recalled a loose tile in the fireplace hearth which he had used to hide money. Carrying no cash himself (He is the president!), Ronald bummed four pennies from Neil to "hide". Those are "stunt pennies" in the photo as the ones Neil handed Ron are safely framed above the fire place where I somehow missed photographing them.
After touring the Reagan home, Don and I drove over to the Veterans Memorial Park where one item just about made Don's day. We had passed the park several times, including while on the bus tour, and thought it looked worth a visit. The park is nicely manicured with several interesting items displayed. The anchor was a wonderful surprise. Don has taken an interest in LSTs (Landing Ship Tank not, as wags claim, Large Slow Target) and has recently done some reading about them. He almost attended an LST festival last Saturday in Seneca, IL. During an idle moment on one of the bus tours, he had described to me how LSTs winched themselves off of beaches using anchors dropped on the way in. Imagine Don's joy at finding a genuine LST stern anchor.
A bit of swag (coffee cup, Jelly Belly beans, note pads, post cards, etc.) awaited us at the Awards Banquet. LHA President Bob Dieterich presided over the banquet and announced most of the rewards while Kathy Franzwa presented them. I'm not going to attempt a complete listing of awards and include just one photo as a sample. That's Jim Cassler accepting a Friends of the Lincoln Highway Award for the Ohio LHA Chapter on behalf of the absent Michael Buettner. I picked that as my sample because 1) it involved Ohio and 2) Jim's kid is in the next photo.

Brian Cassler earned the rank of Eagle Scout by cleaning, stacking, and helping transport some original Lincoln Highway bricks from Canton, Ohio, to Kearney, Nebraska. The bricks will be used in a reconstruction at the museum in the archway over I-80. Newly minted Eagle Scouts are permitted to share the honor with folks who have helped them and with people they "look up to". Another Eagle Scout, Bernie Queneau, filled that role for Brian.

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