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Show Sunday, February i&km--i f?&ZZZ'' .- - ax -- v . THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, 16, 1992 .... - ' I i Page 'xmtm . JVteJ?f ' : , Ik y ihmmii mn ihii m in ii mm .... . - m mm Pi " .!' - - .. f - . , i j a , : yJtjiiiiiwiwrii nf- wmnin)i ".4ij ' ' in Hi ,i j.j .jj .j.., ml 4.J.ML JI..HI..., . II iiu .11 M .ii iiiifniii M i iii ill rr ,u ) . I jjj? aiSj' l 1I3wi&rWLii3 gC1 I '" ' mmm&$m mmmmmmmtfiiMjmmvfKi Where have all the heroes gone? Lincoln fells children how to make country Local teacher dons costume l'' for holiday By RENEE C. NELSON Herald Lifestyle Editor Americans are in need of heros; there are few of them left. And even when a hero does emerge, too often he is destroyed, either by his own actions or by media attention and sometimes falsely. aspersions ww By JANET HART Herald Staff Writer - There are also pseudo heros. If Abraham Lincoln were to visit today's elementary school children, what would he say? His message was a simple one ; ' ' of dedication, respect and . ' educa- dfd tion Wednesday when a modern-da- y version of the former president spoke to several local elementary schools. "The three things I want you to remember are 1), never give up once you start something; 2), care about each other and 3), study hard and learn all you can. "If you do these things, we'll have a great country," said today's Lincoln during an assembly with kindergarten through second grade children at Mapleton Elementary School. The man behind the famous beard and overcoat is Chris Roberts, a Spanish Fork elementary school teacher who has been traying Lincoln for school assemblies on the president's birthday for about five years. Roberts doesn't do his program every year, but when he does it's a convincing one especially for the younger children. After one performance, a second-grade boy asked him if he was resurrected. "You can see in their eyes tha't they're really marveling. It's not so magical for the third, fourth and fifth graders because they know it's just some guy dressed up like Lincoln," Roberts said. A close resemblance to Lincoln and his teaching background inspired the Springville resident to show. He had begin his one-ma- n six performances scheduled for Wednesday ' mmmmmmm vmi'-j- i h rsSAI. In a recent TV interview one senator actually justified his high salary by noting that he didn't make nearly as much as football stars. So where are the heroes? The '40s song goes: "Give me some men who are d men and I'll soon give you 10,000 more." Unfortunately we are getting 10,000 more inarticulate people who follow pseudo heros, many of whom have no regard for education, service or the improvement of society. What we are getting is those who regard money and fame, not quality of character, as their prime goal in life. stout-hearte- ' Chris Roberts, dressed as President Abraham Lincoln, talks with children at Rees Elementary School tried to encourage it by saying, "Get on, you hussie," but got a kick to the head as he was saying his second "Get on." Lincoln was unconscious throughout the night, but in the morning he sat up in bed and said, "You hussie." "I finished my sentence the next morning. That's what you have to do in life to be successful. You have to finish what you Linstart," said the modern-da- y coln. at Rees, Grant, Brockbank and other schools in the Nebo District. Roberts gets the information and stories he uses out of various books that have been written on Lincoln. He chooses events that he can easily relate to children and tries to review any new books as soon as they are published. One story Roberts shared with the children happened when Lincoln was seven years old. He was at the local mill waiting his turn, but the horse turning ihe millstone refused to move. Lincoln Pi Some of the sports legends fall into this category. Many youth consider them heroes, but the only thing that sets many of them apart, besides their natural athletic ability, is money and fame. A case in point is Mike Tyson who was recently found guilty in a much publicized rape case. His behavior, as pointed out by the defense, had always been disgusting. For some bizarre reason they thought this might help in the to prove he had nothing rape case his mind. on good , To illustrate his admonition to respect one another, Roberts told another story from when Lincoln worked on a Mississippi flatboat. He was on a trip to New Orleans with some produce to sell when the boat was overrun by thieves as it was tied to shore for the night. Without any rifles, the situa- tion looked grim, but Lincoln knocked each thief into the river with a club. "Thanks to my pappy, I had really strong arms from cutting down so many trees." "It iust goes to show some times people choose not to follow the law (like, the thieves). We need to show respect to each other," said today's Lincoln. Dressed in authentic clothing down to a genuine black beard, Rogers also shared some of Lincoln's experiences as a schoolboy. Lincoln's school attendance "I went to the blab school. We sat on wooden benches with no backs and blabbed through our lessons," said the modern-da- y Lincoln. One of his schools was even built over a pig corral. The pigs had fleas which liked to jump on the children, Roberts said. The teachers carried hickory switches "You can see in their eyes that they're really marveling. It's not so magical for the third, fourth and fifth graders because they know it's just some guy dressed up like Lincoln." Chris Roberts was very irregular and, when he did attend, it was in a one-rooschoolhouse with wooden floors and no books or paper. m to arouse any dousing students. Shoes were another luxury Lincoln and his schoolmates had to do without. In fact even the Herald pholoPtrtck J. Krohn In Spanish Fork Wednesday. adults went without them unless it was Sunday and they were in the church building. People would walk to church barefoot, slip on their shoes once in the building and then take them off again for the walk home. "When it was raining the clay from the Kentucky ground would ooze betweeyour toes," he said. Despite his lack of formal education, Lincoln developed a love for books and one of his favorites was on the life of George Washington. He would read it before going to sleep, but one night after he slid it between the logs in the wall of the family's cabin for storage, it was ruined from the rain. The former president worked three days for the farmer who loaned him the book to pay for the damage. "Books are important so take advantage of them and read a lot. They have inside them everything you need to know," he said. Thus, once a year it is comforting to honor two heros who have remained, more or less, heroic in the Abraham eyes of the multitudes Lincoln and George Washington. The purpose of their lives was to- ward the betterment of society. They weren't perfect, but they had lofty goals and pursued them nest. in ear- President George Washington was a wealthy man who owned a large plantation. He didn't have to undergo hardship in order to have fame and stature. But he did. As a general he suffered right along with his troops. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, was extremely poor. But he was only poor by birth. He was rich in his aspirations and goals, putting his best efforts into education. As a youth, he would walk miles to obtain a book, and often read it by fire or candlelight. He had no speech-writer- s, but because of his love of books he left us with great speeches and greater deeds. |