Lincoln Celebration Rained Out

The official kickoff to the Lincoln birth bicentennial was rained out yesterday in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Mrs. Laura Bush didn't show, the National Park Service (NPS) cancelled the ceremonies at the National Historic Site, and numerous spectators were extremely disappointed. The rain turned to ice upon impact and it was deemed too dangerous to drivers for the ceremonies to go on.

This article from the Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) describes the disappointment of everyone from the NPS officials, to the local merchants who had stocked up on extra souvenirs. One shop owner spent $10,000 in anticipation of the additional business from visitors. The NPS was concerned that people would fall in the parking lots or memorial steps. Thousands of dollars spent by the NPS on books and programs will now go to waste, apparently.

Unfortunately, there was no backup plan put into place. That's sort of amazing to me. It's not like Kentucky is Arizona, blessed with great weather in the winter months. One would think that event organizers would have had alternate plans in the event of inclement weather.

What a shame. I'm glad I didn't drive the 7 hours from Ohio to attend the event, like some of my fellow Ohioans did, according to the article.