Gleason and Chapman to reign o'er the tourism board

[NOV. 10, 2006]  At Thursday night's tourism board of directors meeting, a new chairman and vice chair were named. Paul Gleason was elected as the chairman of the board of directors of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County. Geoff Ladd, executive director of the bureau, states, "Paul's upcoming departure from the county board opened up this opportunity for our bureau to put his leadership skills to the best possible use as our new chairman." Annette Chapman was elected to the position of vice chairman.

Paul Gleason is a Lincoln native who taught junior high school for 37 years before moving on to the Lincoln College Museum in the fall of 2000. He is assistant curator of the museum. Gleason has served on the county board for 28 years but will be leaving this year. He served the board as county historian. Along with Paul Beaver, Gleason co-authored "Logan County, Illinois: A Pictorial History." He also wrote "Lincoln, Illinois: A Pictorial History" and is currently working on a book regarding Abraham Lincoln's time in Logan County. Gleason has served on the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County board of directors for 19 years. He has taken a leading role in the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial celebration planning for the community and is also serving on the Tri-State Lincoln Bicentennial Commission as well as on the advisory committee for the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Annette Chapman has served on the board of directors of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County for the past year. In that time, she has tirelessly volunteered her time and energy to nearly every event that the tourism bureau has been involved with. Chapman is an alderman of Atlanta and has served on the committee for the Atlanta Fall Festival for the past seven years. Last year, she was instrumental in spearheading the creation of the Happy Wiener Festival on the Mother Road, a Route 66 festival in Atlanta. In the past, she has served as the president of the American Legion, as a board member for the Atlanta Library and Museum, and as a member of the Atlanta Rescue Squad.

Retaining their positions through the election were Shirley Bartelmay as the treasurer and Gail Apel-Sasse as the secretary.

The Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County board of directors will serve under these officers for the next two years. The other members of the board are Charles Ott, Gillette Ransom, Bob McCue, Alberta Hellman, Ron Keller and Lucille Pech. The Logan County Board representative on the tourism bureau's board of directors is T.W. Werth.

[Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County news release]