What if you drove through a small town in Missouri in a big rig motor home, through the narrow streets with one lane for driving and the curb lane for parking, speed limit 25, the bank, real estate office, hardware store, local haberdashery, pharmacy and corner grocery store housed in buildings some probably dating from the 1930's and 40’s. What if you continued through this town boasting ties to Abe Lincoln as do so many towns in Missouri and Illinois. What if, while approaching the Springfield, MO town hall you observe a crowd on the lawn in front of the building and see a chorus of men standing on the steps of the town hall. What if the chorus (of 50 men I was to learn later) are all Abe Lincoln look-alikes in black top hats and tails. What if, because you had no warning or expectations, you did not have your camera ready to catch this scene and there was no place to stop in a big rig to snap a shot of this phenomenon.
That happened to me, on a sunny Sunday in April. A photo op missed, it just exists in my head. I searched on the Springfield Sun web site, the newspaper in Springfield. There were no photos showing the chorus of 50, only a photo of one of the Lincoln impersonator and his wife, playing Mary Todd Lincoln, the first lady. It was a moment of humor, frustration and acceptance of circumstance. What a memory!
If you’d like to learn more, check out this URL http://www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?023+article+News+20100402165330023023001
No comments:
Post a Comment