Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed by Jane Lawder paid a return visit to the Brinkerhoff home Sunday, February 10th. She was greeted by a room full of visitors who showed their pleasure by an extended applause at the conclusion. This was my first time to experience the presentation. With a higher budget, a special effects team might have sailed her in on a wave of smoke as the presentation was in the first person as the deceased Mary looked back on her life as Lincoln's First Lady. This personal retrospection presented a new perspective to me and I found it very interesting. She recounted the events in her very troubled life before and after her husband's death.
As we approach the year long celebration leading up the the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, we will have many opportunities to look back on Lincoln's life and death. With the strong emphasis Springfield puts on Lincoln, I think we owe it to our city and ourselves to become more aware of the Lincoln legacy. I urge everyone to seek out and participate during this special time.
Here we can see Jane in the question/answer portion of her presentation showing the intricacies of the undergarments of the time. I overheard her discussing the difficulty she had just getting dressed for her appearances and that it was easier to dress at home. Driving to the event in costume was another story. Todays automobile s are definitely not made for a hoop skirt! Not being a lady, I can only imagine how difficult this type of dress might be in different circumstances. Do we now understand why they had split bloomers and why the outhouse at Lincoln's home was more like a short barrel than a bench with a hole? As my daughter would say, "too much information, Dad." So, I'll stop here.
Above we can see our new board president, John Bucari (far left) and newly installed treasurer, Kevin Beatty, talking with visitors after the presentation as they took the opportunity to tour the beautiful house; while below, Jane talks with interested participants.
As mentioned previously, there are some new faces on the Brinkerhoff Board. The new board officers are: John Bucari, President; Suzie Weiss, Vice President; Kathy DuBois, Secretary; Kevin Beatty, Treasurer.
Sharon Norris, after 20 years, has retired from the board to free herself to do more traveling after retirement. I'm sure it goes without saying that her past commitment will be missed. I can certainly understand her need to loosen the soil and cut a few roots to give herself some growing room. I wish her calm waters and a steady breeze to fill her sails as she sets out on new adventures. She did say that she wanted to continue receiving my e-mail notification of blog changes so I'm guessing we will still see her around. She just won't be quite so busy!
As George Burns would say, "Say goodnight, Gracie"
Until the next event brings new entries to the blog, "goodnight, George"
Dulany Sriner, Blogmaster
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