Monday, February 16, 2009

President's Day Celebrated the Lincoln Way in PA

Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday gives President's Day some extra meaning this year and the party started early in Harrisburg. The 16th president was recently honored in the state Capitol rotunda, where top hats, fifes and hoop skirts were back in style. Pennsylvania was the site of one of Lincoln's most iconic moments-the Gettysburg Address. House Speaker Keith McCall says that gives the commonwealth a special bond with the president. He says Lincoln delivered an important message with that brief speech, “On our soil, on the ground hallowed by the blood of the brave men and boys who fought and died, Lincoln reassured us that those men and those boys did not die in vain.” To highlight tat tie, renowned Lincoln impersonator James Getty delivered the Gettysburg Address on the floor of the PA House Chamber. Getty says one of Lincoln's greatest accomplishments was his insistence that Confederate soldiers not be punished after the Civil War ended. Getty says the president understood the country had suffered enough, and needed to heal.

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