Logan County historic sites celebrate Abe's 203rd

Postville starts the celebration early

[February 13, 2012]  The Mount Pulaski and Postville courthouses each hosted special open houses Saturday in honor of the beloved 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The celebrations marked Logan County's most cherished president's 203rd birthday.

The celebration at Postville began at 10 a.m. with an invocation led by the Rev. Simon Taabu of Holy Family Catholic Church, and area Girl Scouts were asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag.

On hand for the day were President and first lady Lincoln, portrayed by Gary and Carol Simpkins.

Throughout the day there were a variety of activities going on, including a scavenger hunt where visitors were given a list of questions to answer. The questions were based on Lincoln, and the answers were found at the courthouse through the numerous displays.

Storyteller Brian "Fox" Ellis was also on hand. In the morning he took over the upstairs courtroom and told tales of Lincoln as a young man. Among the stories he told was that of Lincoln's near-death experience when he was kicked in the head by a horse as a youth.

Ellis told the story with great enthusiasm and animation, keeping the courtroom full of guests well-entertained. In the afternoon Ellis moved the subject to tales of Lincoln's partnership with William Herndon in a law office.

Also on hand for the noon hours was musician John Sutton, who entertained the crowd with his special talents.

And of course, no celebration is complete without cake and ice cream. Members of Lincoln's Logan County Arts and Crafts Guild, with Nancy Saul and Sue Bidwell acting as hostesses, served up generous portions of cake, ice cream and punch.

Geoff Ladd, director of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, was on hand much of the day, enjoying the opportunity to chat with visitors and the volunteers who were manning various locations in the courthouse.

He offered praises of the newest site director of the Postville Courthouse, Stu Churchill, saying it was Churchill's first event as the official site director and it was very well organized.

Churchill has been a volunteer at the historic site for over 10 years and was selected to take on the director position when Shirley Bartelmay retired.

In all, the day was a great success, with many periods of time when folks were nearly shoulder to shoulder in the ground-floor rooms, visiting, enjoying cake and taking in the history of Abraham Lincoln.

[By NILA SMITH]