Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
A winter storm forced the cancelation of the Lincoln Bicentennial inaugural celebration planned for yesterday at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville, Kentucky.
Snow began falling Monday afternoon during the set-up and rehearsal of the outdoor ceremony. Soon thereafter, a winter storm warning, the first to be issued for the area in over five years, was announced. Accumulating ice and sleet quickly covered surfaces and continued overnight. Out of concern for public safety and for the safety of NPS employees, the decision to cancel the ceremony was made early Tuesday morning. Rain, heavy at times, continued throughout the day, hampering clean-up and equipment breakdown.
Around 90 NPS employees from 27 parks in 15 states were on hand to assist with the event, but, due to the dangerous travelling conditions, most employees were kept staged at their hotels/homes in the morning and were not released until after the winter storm warning was lifted.
For more than 30 years, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS has hosted a wreath laying ceremony on Lincoln’s birthday. Despite the severe weather and canceled event yesterday, tradition prevailed as incident personnel held an impromptu ceremony featuring a group of 30 NPS employees led by Sandy Brue, the park’s chief of interpretation and resource management, and two members of the NPS honor guard.
The Lincoln Bicentennial celebration will continue with hundreds of special programs, activities, and events taking place throughout the nation over the next two years. Five NPS sites are directly related to Lincoln, and seven more have secondary links to him. More than 100 additional NPS sites have indirect ties to Lincoln’s life.
The next NPS site to host a Lincoln Bicentennial celebration will be when Indiana’s celebration kicks off with a Mother’s Day ceremony on Sunday, May 11th, at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. This park preserves the site of the farm where Abraham Lincoln spent 14 formative years of his life. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, is buried in a pioneer cemetery in the park. Coinciding with that event will be a nearby weekend encampment for 3000 Boy and Girl Scouts. The scouts will learn about Lincoln’s time spent in Indiana by taking part in a variety of pioneer activities and demonstrations.
For more information about upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial celebrations, visit www.lincolnbicentennial.gov
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