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Previous Programs & Venues
 (page 2)

They did this by sharing the Garfield letters that chronicled James Garfield’s service in the Civil War – 28 months that saw him rise from lieutenant-colonel to major general, from relative obscurity to national prominence. 

Lucretia’s letters gave details of life back home in Hiram, Ohio: their toddler’s first words, the purchase of their first “real home,” the war deaths of relatives and local boys. 

 Don Miller, as General Garfield’s aid-de-camp, Lt. Ben Lake, served as the narrator for this program.

Eleanor speaks for the Congress Lake Club in Hartville, OH

November 4, 2009

Lake County Historical Society’s
“Myths, Legends, & Graveyards Tour”
Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Widow Lucretia Garfield (circa 1885) appeared at the Mentor Cemetery with her granddaughter-in-law, Eleanor Borton Garfield, LCHS volunteer, Wendy Maynard of Painesville, OH, captured the persona of Eleanor Garfield who was mayor of Mentor, OH in the 1950s and known for her hard work and vision for the city’s growth, industrialization, and quality-of-life improvements.

Approximately 150 people were entertained by a visit from the past from these two ladies – related through marriage, but who never really met.  According to Kathie Purmal, Executive Director of LCHS, “the guests loved you [Debbie] and Wendy and the interplay between you.  They loved the costumes and really felt they had a much better idea of who these two women were.”

Feb.1, 2010 at the Cuyahoga Valley Genealogical Society

Ed Haney as President James A. Garfield

The “Dear Wife and Mother” program
was presented by

"Lucretia"

during "Civil War Week"

at the home of the Lakeside Women’s Club,
Lakeside, Ohio.

Lucretia emphasized the effects of the war on her marriage, family, and home life in Hiram, OH.  She was raising a toddler, the Garfields’ first daughter, at the time.  Lucretia maintained a household while preoccupied with her husband’s activities and safety while away at war in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia.  She also kept vigil with her mother and sister-in-law while they awaited word about her brother John’s fight with typhoid fever.  He succumbed to the illness while fighting in Lexington, Kentucky.  Every day brought word of some neighbor or relative who was touched by the war’s devastation.

Lucretia also spoke about her life after her husband’s assassination and death.  By 1907 – the year she was portraying – her five children were grown, married, and had families and careers of their own.  Lucretia’s life was still centered on her family, but it also included some civic involvement.  She also traveled to visit her children and grandchildren who were living from “coast to coast” in the U.S.

Robert Hodder was honored to be asked to appear and speak as President Theodore Roosevelt, at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, GA during the 2010 President's Day celebrations.  He also made appearances and spoke at various schools in the area.

On February 15, 2010, TR boarded the S.A.M. Shortline Railroad train in Cordele, GA and enjoyed the 2 hour ride to the Plains, GA depot speaking with the passengers.

John King as President Lincoln, with guests at 'Yours Truly' during Dinner with the Presidents 2010

Dale Liikala as President William H. Taft, with guests at 'Yours Truly' during Dinner with the Presidents 2010

 Debbie Weinkamer and Ed Haney as President and Mrs. Garfield
at Mantua Center Christian Church
January 17, 2010 

 Debbie Weinkamer and Ed Haney as President and Mrs. Garfield at Mantua Center Christian Church
January 17, 2010

Bob Hodder as TR with Brenda Stultz, Curator of the Clyde Museum in Clyde, OH. During Clyde’s Christmas Festival.     

Bob Hodder as TR with James R. Garfield II, grandson of TR’s Secretary of the Interior, James R. Garfield, and great grandson of President James A. Garfield.

Presidential Living Historians’ Booth at the Muster at the CCRC III in Ashtabula, June 13-14, 2009

The Garfields with Steve & Linda Weinkamer of Mantua at the Ohio Historical Marker Dedication in Mantua Center, June 20, 2009

President and Mrs. Garfield speak at Mantua Center Historical Marker Dedication

History's Mysteries at The Euclid Public Library

This photo is from President & Mrs. Garfield's visit toTyrone Elementary School, Tyrone, GA

2007 “Dinner with the Presidents” at Lawnfield Inn &Suites in Mentor, OH

TR with the students from the Richmond Heights Local Schools where Hodder taught English, history and government for 35 years.  "The students had no idea I had ever been there, much less that I had taught there"

And the winner is:
T R  at a competition for gifted children from Cuyahoga County elementary schools.  The competition was held at the Brooklyn High School Auditorium on 2/24/09.

2008 Dinner with the Presidents at Yours Truly Restaurant

President Garfield with James Wise, Treasurer and planner of the Lecture Series for the Flat River Historical Society.(April 2008)
 

2008 Dinner with the Presidents at Yours Truly Restaurant

Tim Garfield--a great-great-grandson of the President and Mrs. Garfield
2008 Dinner with the Presidents at Yours Truly Restaurant

History's Mysteries at The Euclid Public Library

For even more photos of previous performances and pages to help generate program ideas that would fit your group, please visit our archive pages

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“Letters from the Front”

Lakeside Association, August 2007

May 2007

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