Weather disrupts start of Lincoln Bicentennial; local weekly keeps a stiff upper lip

Hodgenville, Ky., the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, spent lots of time and money preparing for this week's kick-off to the two-year National Lincoln Bicentennial celebration of the president's birth. Tuesday's wintry mix of snow, freezing rain and ice spoiled Lincoln's 199th birthday by forcing cancellation of events to be attended by First Lady Laura Bush, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, actor Sam Wasterson and "thousands of Lincoln lovers," reports Chris Kenning for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, about an hour north of Hodgenville. (Lincoln look-alike Mike Cox of Antioch, Tenn., walked through Hodgenville in a C-J photo by Pam Spaulding.) Click here to read more and watch videos.

The town of 2,800 had spent the past two years working with the National Park Service to orchestrate the morning festivities that were to be the official start of the two-year celebration of Lincoln around the country. The cancellation left thousands of unused programs and plenty of disappointment, but the LaRue County Herald News, the local 5,000-circulation weekly, tried to accentuate the positive with its report headlined, "Community rebounds after Lincoln Bicentennial kickoff program canceled at Abe's birthplace."

“Certainly, this was one event our community wanted to see happen,” County Judge-Executive Tommy Turner, a member of the national and state commissions for the celebration, told the paper, adding that he was "heartbroken" by the cancellation. Sandy Brue, chief of interpretation and resource management for the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, told the paper, "“It’s more like a funeral” with all the unused programs and wasted food lying around. Still, this was not the bicentennial, Turner told the paper. He added that next year holds the promise of another ceremony, albeit one that will be held indoors instead. (Read more) Turner, a loyal Democrat, may be hoping for a visit from a President Barack Obama, who likes to note his Lincoln connections.

The daily paper nearest Hodgenville, The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown, titled its report "Lincoln letdown," in which reporter John Friedlein described the local events that did go on as planned, despite the reduced crowds and bad weather. (Read more) For a nice story by our friend Judy Jones Owens in the Daily Yonder, about Lincoln impersonators (they call themselves "Lincoln presenters"), click here.

UPDATE: The town will have a grand start to the Lincoln Bicentennial after all, reports John Friedlein of The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown, Ky. "The May 31 event will feature the unveiling of a young Abe statue, children’s games from the early 1800s and displays — such as a HistoryMobile exhibit — that had been planned for the February event," Friedlein writes. "Mayor Terry Cruse said the community can come together during the May event the way it couldn’t because of the ice storm." (Read more)