Abe Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address — in Sandusky
Apr 12, 2012 at 3:07 PM
When Abraham Lincoln gave a famous short speech to a crowd in Gettysburg, Pa., he told them, “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here.”
How wrong Abe was.
Lincoln impersonator Richard “Fritz” Klein of Springfield, Ill., and the children in teacher Bill King’s fourth-grade class at Venice Heights Elementary both recited the entire Gettysburg Address from memory during “An Evening with President Abraham Lincoln,” presented at the school Wednesday evening.
It was the third year in a row that King and the Sandusky Schools brought in Klein, who recited passages from many of Lincoln’s speeches to a crowd of about 75.
Klein’s knowledge of Lincoln’s words was impressive. Klein, 63, has had a full-time job portraying Lincoln since 1980.
But the 17 children in King’s class who performed Wednesday also showed they’d done their homework.
Besides reciting the Gettysburg Address, the kids sang all six verses from memory of “Lincoln and Liberty,” Lincoln’s 1860 campaign song, shouting campaign slogans between verses. They also sang a more modern tune called the “Abraham Lincoln Rap.” King, 57, who has taught at the school for 30 years, sent a CD of the songs and lyric sheets home with the children to help them learn the songs.
Read more about this special evening in Thursday's Register or check out the epaper.