Happy Halloween Along the Lincoln Highway in Indiana!

In the spirit of the original Lincoln Highway Association’s 1913 announcement of the selected Lincoln Highway route across the nation, Indiana farmers placed jack-o-lanterns on fence posts to celebrate the road and greet travelers. To add to your Halloween fun this October, we suggest visiting the following sites along the Lincoln Highway:

Merriam Cemetery, gravesite of the first Uncle Sam – Noble County

St. Louis Besancon Cemetery, a French settlement cemetery east of New Haven – Allen County

The Haunted Jail in Columbia City – Whitley County

Railroad Death Crossing Site at New Carlisle, near the Old Republic on the hill overlooking New Carlisle – St. Joseph County

The Old Bag Factory in Goshen, a haunted factory site – Elkhart County

Participate Fright Night Activities & Zombie Walk in downtown Fort Wayne – Oct. 23

President’s Quarterly Letter

Dear LHA members,

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the re-establishment of the LHA. Since 1992 a great deal has been accomplished along the historic corridor, and many more people are aware of the road and are out there traveling the back roads of America.

As we approach the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the congressionally appointed Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) is promoting a greater awareness of our nation’s greatest president and for whom the highway was named. The patriotic approach to building the highway worked in favor of gaining much needed grassroots and political support for the corridor as it was marked in 1913. In late September of this year, the LHA received news that both the 2008 and 2009 LHA conferences have been endorsed by the ALBC. Such an endorsement will be effective in achieving our mission: to preserve and promote the historic road. Our activities take on even greater meaning as we work on very local projects, state-level projects, and national-level projects.

The LHA Board of Directors, committees, and our executive director are setting new goals that focus on the long-term objectives of sustaining our organization’s mission, achieving national byway designations, preserving the road, and collaborating with tourism professionals to promote heritage tourism.

We challenge every member of the LHA and the public to become involved by being a voice for the road, asking others to join the LHA, participating in activities, building collaborations with local and regional partners, and by sharing your own resources, whatever they may be. I urge you to join the leadership of the LHA by offering your time, talents, and resources. We have much work to do, many road trips to take and make new friends to make.

Get out there — drive the road! We look forward to seeing you in Evanston, Wyoming in June 2008 and in South Bend, Indiana in June 2009.

Jan Shupert-Arick, President, LHA

President’s Quarterly Letter

July marked the beginning of my term as your president. My connection to the road began before my birth when my father followed his Studebaker Champion down the line at the Studebaker Plant in South Bend, Indiana, and was allowed to drive his new car off the line. My childhood was filled with road trips in Studebakers, many of them along our road.

As an adult I have worked in the areas of education, history, preservation, and the arts. My professional career includes serving as the Education Coordinator at both the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend, Indiana and at The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both museum experiences placed me in the position of interpreting the historic Lincoln Highway.

It was exciting to share the history, but once I attended a Lincoln Highway conference, I was hooked. The members of the Lincoln Highway Association have the passion for preserving the road and that is what makes me stay the course. I am delighted to serve you and look forward to growing the organization along with a talented board and our new executive director.

This is a very exciting time for our association as we continue to promote and protect the historic Lincoln Highway corridor. David Hay, along with our past president, Bob Lichty, will begin to enter into a new discussion with Congress in hopes of gaining a national byway status for the Lincoln Highway. We believe the LHA is positioned to accomplish this task.

Many of you have worked tirelessly to achieve local, regional, state and national preservation successes and you know that a national designation for the entire corridor would be a grand achievement that would serve to benefit all communities along the route. Certainly this would be a timely endeavor as the nation begins to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 2009.

This effort will require grassroots support. Members, local communities, and state leadership will need to be involved at local and national levels as advocates for the designation. We thank you in advance for being a voice for the Lincoln Highway.

The board of directors and the National Office will roll out a number of projects over the next few months. You will be receiving information in the mail, via email (if you have provided your email address), and in the Forum. Please read and respond to these communications so we can move forward with good speed and direction. We will also be asking for your input. We care what you think, so take the time to share your thoughts with us!

In closing I would like to thank Bob Lichty and Gregory Franzwa for taking the time to assist in a smooth transition of leadership for the organization and a thank you to the 2007 LHA conference planning team for a job well done. Be sure to mark your calendars for Evanston, Wyoming in 2008 and for South Bend, Indiana in 2009. Remember to visit the LHA on the web at www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org.

Take care and enjoy the journey!
Jan