By Edward Epstein
Washington, D.C.
June 15, 2022
Until last evening, the Lincoln Group of D.C. had not held a live monthly program since back in early 2020, before the Covid pandemic changed all our lives.
So it was with a lot of anticipation that we gathered last evening at our old hangout, Maggiano's Little Italy in Friendship Heights in upper northwest Washington, for a family-style dinner and program. We're happy to report that the turnout was grand -- about 40 people came out and a few dozen joined us from around the country on Zoom to enjoy our program. That number reflects our growing membership across the U.S.
It was like old times, with our membership secretary Susan Dennis staffing the check-in desk while her husband Bernie, our technical whiz, successfully wrestled with the challenges of staging a hybrid, nation-wide event.
Here are Susan, right, and Lincolnian newsletter editor Wendy Swanson at the check-in desk.
Among those on hand were Jon Willen, Lincoln Group vice president for programming, left; new board member and one of last evening's presenters, Scott Schroeder, center; and board member Rod Ross.
The evening's main presenter was photographer Dave Wiegers, who has traveled the country and the world to shoot hundreds of sculptures of Lincoln, depicting him from his boyhood in Kentucky and Indiana to his martyrdom in 1865.
Dave and Scott have launched an interactive web site, the Lincoln Sculpture Project Google Map, which pinpoints the location of hundreds of Lincoln sculptures and allows users to see each image and learn something of each work's history. More images are being added. You are able to access this site at https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1BmUZfnmpyh_4p2Xxgqi5t3sQtNFCSZD4&usp=sharing.
At the end of the evening, participants were all smiles. From left, here are David Kent, Lincoln Group president; Scott Schroeder, Dave Wiegers, Jon WIllen (who is holding a Wiegers photo he won in a raffle) and Wendy Wiegers.
We're planning more in-person events, so keep checking the events section of this website for updates. See you soon!
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