Frankfort, KY --- The Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the Kentucky Historical Society proudly announce the premiere of a special KET program. The new Kentucky Life special features a reenactment and interpretation of the wedding of Abraham Lincoln's parents. To celebrate, a premiere event will be held at the Springfield Opera House in Springfield, Kentucky, on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. ET.
Invitations have been issued to members of the Springfield community and others who participated in and sponsored the 2006 Lincoln-Hanks Wedding Celebration, which was held at the Lincoln Homestead State Park on June 3, 2006. Senator Dan Kelly, Springfield native and cochair of the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, will be on hand to help host the event. Dave Shuffett, the host of KET’s Kentucky Life, is a special featured guest.
The Kentucky Life program presents the wedding reenactment, narrated by an actor portraying Abraham Lincoln, as well as interviews regarding the upcoming Lincoln bicentennial. To place the wedding in context, the program also includes reenactors playing historical figures, such as George Washington and the slave York, who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their exploration, and actors in period costume performing the tasks of daily life in the early 1800s in Kentucky.
The theatrical interpretation of the Lincoln-Hanks wedding was written, produced, and directed by the Kentucky Historical Society’s Museum Theatre program. The play was produced as part of a daylong celebration at the Lincoln Homestead State Park in June 2006, which was sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society, the Kentucky Department of Parks, and local organizations.
The Kentucky Life program, hosted by Dave Shuffett, airs Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8/7 p.m. CT and Sunday, Feb. 18 at 4:30/3:30 p.m. CT on KET1 and Sunday, Feb. 18 at 7/6 p.m. CT on KET2.
The Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is a 20-member group established by Governor Ernie Fletcher in 2004. The commission, administered by the Kentucky Historical Society, is coordinating the commonwealth’s two-year celebration.
Beginning with a national kickoff event in Hodgenville in February 2008, the nation’s attention will focus on Kentucky, the birthplace and boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. Celebrations will continue throughout the state leading up to the bicentennial of his birth on February 12, 2009.
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An agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, the Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future. KHS operates the Old State Capitol, the Kentucky Military History Museum, and its headquarters, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. Since 1999, the thirty-million- dollar Center has welcomed more than one million visitors. For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit our Web site at www.history.ky.gov.