Saturday, October 18, 2014
 
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Former Northwest fifth graders receive gift of appreciation from LCGHS
 

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[October 18, 2014]  LINCOLN - Thursday afternoon certain students at the Lincoln Junior High School got a surprise visit from Mary Ellen Martin, Wanda Lee Rohlfs and their former fifth-grade teacher Marla Williams.

Martin and Rolfs were at the school representing the Abraham Lincoln Statue Committee. They came to the school to thank the 2013-14 fifth-grade class of Northwest School for their fundraising efforts for the statue. Because the children are now in the sixth grade and have changed schools, the meeting was held at the Junior High.

When all the kids were assembled, Rohlfs read aloud to the students of the Northwest fifth-grade Class of 2014 a Declaration of Educational Benefit.

The declaration acknowledged that the students' penny drive for the statue and their participation in the educational tour of the State Bank of Lincoln and the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society.

After the reading of the declaration, the kids were asked to sign a document that would become a part of the history of the erection of a new statue on the Logan County Courthouse lawn.
 


Rohlfs told the kids that the statue committee had gone to see the life-size clay figure last week, and had approved it for being cast in bronze. She said the statue is expected to be completed by the end of the year. With the winter coming, she said it is not anticipated that the statue can installed on the courthouse lawn until warmer weather next year.

Martin and Rohlfs also presented a print of the Lincoln Speech on the steps of the Logan County Courthouse given on October 16th, 1858. The print is a copy of the original work done by Jennifer Boeke, which now hangs in the new Lincoln Heritage Museum on the campus of Lincoln College.

The print will be taken back to Northwest school and will hang in the school library.

Martin also presented the students with the Christmas ornament that depicts the statue that was produced last year as a fundraiser by the committee. She said the students could decide what they would do with the ornament, send it to Northwest or keep it at the junior high. Each student also received a special commemorative postcard that has a photo of the miniature Lincoln statue on it.

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Rohlfs and Martin thanked the kids for their support and told them that they were now a part of history in Logan County because documentation behind the new statue will include all their names as contributors.

The statue committee officially reached their fundraising goal earlier this year. Support for the statue came from a variety of fundraisers including the sale of the miniature bronzes, postcards, ornaments, support from individuals and groups such as the students of Northwest, and a grant from the Woods Foundation.

Plans are being made for one more fundraising push. The “Old Bob” fundraiser will be conducted to raise money for the official dedication of the statue and for future maintenance costs.

Old Bob was the name of the horse Abraham Lincoln wrote in his circuit days in Logan County. Old Bob has been turned into a carousel horse which is now on display at the National Rent-To-Own store at the corner of Kickapoo and Broadway Streets in downtown Lincoln.

Chances to win the horse are being sold by the historical society. Anyone who buys a chance on the horse will have their name added to the historical record of the statue as a contributor. The final record of all those who contributed will be maintained at the historical society.

Anyone wishing to buy a chance for Old Bob may do so by contacting JoAnne Marlin at 217-828-0650 or Wanda Lee Rohlfs at 217-735-2057.

[Nila Smith]

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