Union County, Illinois' Colorfest Event: Lincoln, The Great Communicator

Since being designated a site in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, the Jonesboro Lincoln-Douglas Debate Group is now able to present quality programs such as this through the Looking For Lincoln Coalition.

Union County, Illinois’ Colorfest Event: Lincoln, The Great Communicator

Looking for Lincoln will host a new program featuring Lincoln impersonator, George Buss, and Illinois folk musician and folklorist, Chris Vallillo, in their show, Lincoln, The Great Communicator. The program combines live period music with conversation and narrative by President Lincoln (using Lincoln’s own words) to explore Lincoln’s use of communication as a personal and political tool. Using performance as a way to share and expand on the Lincoln story, the program will be presented in eleven Looking for Lincoln Communities in Illinois: Carthage, Decatur, Freeport, Jacksonville, Anna-Jonesboro, Lincoln, Mahomet, Ottawa, Paris, Pontiac and Vandalia.

The family-friendly (upper elementary and high school students) entertainment will be presented at 2:00 pm on Sunday, October 13th at the Anna Arts Center at 117 W. Davie, Anna, IL 62906. The event is free and refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Linda at 618-833-8745 or hileman14@frontier.com. The event is presented by the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition and is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency in cooperation with P.A.S.T. of Union County and the Shawnee Hills/Anna Art Center.

This theatrical style program is presented as a casual conversation between President Lincoln and Vallillo discussing Lincoln's gifts as a communicator and the way Lincoln used those skills for the betterment of mankind throughout his lifetime. In the midst of the conversation, Vallillo will perform period music on guitar, bottleneck slide Dobro, banjo and jaw harp to illustrate Lincoln’s point and the President will quote passages from some of his favorite speeches.

Lincoln lived in a time when the power of mass communication was just beginning to come of age and his mastery of those skills would play a large role in his ultimate success as a leader. Traditional means of mass communication like books and popular music would be augmented by the rise of the Industrial revolution, steam powered printing presses, the telegraph, photography and improved transportation systems like steamboats and railroads.

For more information about the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition and the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, go to www.lookingforlincoln.com.

###