Lincoln Heritage Museum holds annual Pearl Harbor Day remembrance

 

[December 12, 2018]  LINCOLN - On Friday at noon, the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College hosted its annual Pearl Harbor Day observance in the atrium. Museum Director Anne Moseley served as the master of ceremonies for the event. She opened the day welcoming all guests to the observance.

Moseley noted that December 7, 2018 is the first year that there are no survivors of the U.S.S. Constitution that was hit during the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The comment was very specific to those who were on the Constitution when the Japanese air raid occurred at the Pearl Harbor port in Hawaii. There are still other World War II survivors.

Moseley noted that the museum feels strongly about continuing the tradition of recognizing the events of December 7, 1941 in remembrance of those who died on that day and also those who fought in the war in the days that followed.

Moseley called on Father Jeffrey Laible of the Holy Family Parish for the opening prayer. Father Laible remembered the soldiers of Pearl Harbor.

Our nation’s colors were presented by the American Legion Post 263 Color Guard and then Moseley introduced the guest speaker for the day, Kirby Rodgers, President of the Lincoln Rotary Club.

Rodgers was on hand to speak about the Hometown Hero project that the Rotary has begun.

Rodgers started by sharing information about the club and explained that the world wide mission of the Rotary is to eradicate Polio. He noted that there are still cases of Polio in the world, and named Afghanistan as one place in particular where polio still exists.

Rodgers said that the face of Rotary has changed over the years and it is no longer a “gold old boys” club. The membership in Lincoln includes several young women, but more are always welcome.

Rodgers then went on to explain the Hometown Heroes project that began as a request from a local citizen, Carrie Pethy, who reached out to the Rotary with a suggestion. Pethy has a daughter currently in the military and she felt led to bring to the Rotary a program that is growing in popularity in the United States. Pethy explained the concept of hanging banners in the city and how each one would feature someone past or present that served in the Military.

Rodgers said there are a very small number of communities in Illinois that have committed to similar projects, so Lincoln would be among the early participants in the state.

The Rotary adopted the idea and began working with a committee that included Pethy and others including Alderman Ron Keller, representing the city of Lincoln.

The city has agreed to permit the Rotary to utilize the decorative lamp posts in the downtown area that already have banner hangers installed. Rodgers said there were approximately 30 hanging locations earmarked around the square and in the two county owned parks in the downtown area. The county is also allowing the Rotary to utilize the lamp posts in Latham and Scully Parks.

The total cost of the banners is between $80 and $100 each. To date the Rotary has applications for 15 banners. He said the club decided that it would fill the 31 spots then create a waiting list.
 

Rodgers said that the Lincoln Rotary secured a grant from the Rotary International for $1,680.
With the grant, the overall costs of each of the 31 banners will be reduced to just $50 for subscriber families.

At the end of the first two years, the banners hanging will be taken down and given to the family or subscriber as a keepsake and a new set of banners will be hung in their place. Rodgers said that this would keep the program ongoing for as long as there were subscribers and would perfect for future military service men and women to have a spot of honor.

He also specified that the banners are not just for those in active duty at the moment. Any past veteran living or deceased is eligible to be included.

Moseley returned to the podium to introduce first Calia Cole, a Lincoln College Theater student, and Jalen Fields, a Lincoln College Business Studies student. Both are anticipate graduating with the class of 2020.

Balcony photo by Mark Gordon

Cole sang the Star Spangled Banner. Field then played Taps from the balcony of the atrium.

Moseley then thanked everyone for coming and wished everyone a happy holiday season.

The college museum has been hosting this annual event for the last few years and it is always well attended with members of the public, veterans, and a number of city and county representatives on hand. The museum event is the only official Pearl Harbor observance held locally.

[Nila Smith]