Lincoln Shrine Celebrates 45th Open House

REDLANDS>> With red, white and blue balloons surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, numerous people from the community gathered together to celebrate the 45th Lincoln Memorial Shrine Open House Saturday, Feb. 4. The event featured live demonstrations from the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery and the 7th Michigan Cavalry, as well as the "Gettysburg Address" delivered by Scott Nelson who dressed up as President Abraham Lincoln. Before the festivities took place at the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, a Lincoln Pilgrimage, a program hosted by the Grayback District of California Inland Empire Council, Boy Scouts of America, began at Redlands High School at 10 a.m. From the high school, participants walked down Citrus Avenue to Eureka Street, arriving at the Lincoln Shrine where a flag raising ceremony took place. With performances by Bill Bell and Co. and the Camp Charleton Band, participants had the opportunity to walk around the area to booths while listening to some of the classic music. Throughout the afternoon, guests were able to witness live demonstrations such as a firing from a cannon by members of the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery. Dave Richman, battery captain of the artillery, said the group is a Civil War historical group. "(It's) living history because you can actually see it and talk to people," Richman said. Richman said the group does live demonstrations all over southern California and that everyone in the group loves history. New exhibitions at the Lincoln Memorial Shrine include recent additions to the Shrine collections related to the history of slavery and its role in the Civil War; a study of “Thoughts on Peace on Lincoln’s Birthday,” the museum’s prized Norman Rockwell oil painting; and a commemoration of Ewart Watchorn’s service during World War I. Ewart was the son of Shrine donors Robert and Alma Watchorn and the person in whose memory the museum was dedicated.