Two years of celebration to mark Lincoln's 200th birthday


A giant birthday party on Feb. 12, 2008, will kick off a two-year celebration commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's 1809 birth.





USA TODAY
LOUISVILLE — When Jim Sayre of Lawrenceburg, Ky., began growing a beard in the late 1970s, people started to point out his resemblance to the nation's 16th president. So he entered an Abraham Lincoln look-alike contest and won.
His interest in Lincoln was already high, so he began memorizing his speeches. Eventually, that led to 25 years of Sayre interpreting Lincoln's life for school groups, civic organizations and at Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville, Ky.

This week, Sayre will be among hundreds expected to gather there to kick off two years of celebrating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. The celebration begins Tuesday with a 10:30 a.m. ceremony featuring first lady Laura Bush 3 miles from the 16-foot-by-18-foot dirt-floor cabin where Lincoln was born on Feb. 12, 1809.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Sayre, 72.

A host of events have been scheduled through 2010 around the country, particularly in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, where Lincoln spent much of his life. Several events are scheduled for Washington D.C.