Outlet: Virginia Beach Beacon
Lincoln makes appearance to plug Nov. 28 Forum Spot
Abraham Lincoln, played by re-enactor Bruce Spear, makes the acquaintance of Nouria Kashiri, age 5, who was visiting Ynot Wednesdays at Town Center with her family.
If dogs, dancers and flip flop farmers can mingle at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, why not a dead president?
Abraham Lincoln, played by re-enactor Bruce Spear, crashed an afternoon plaza party at Town Center on June 13 to promote an upcoming Virginia Beach Forum event. Within minutes, he was dancing onstage, adding presidential credentials to the relaxed vibe of “Ynot Wednesdays?”
To kick off its 2012-13 season, the Virginia Beach Forum will host “Lincoln, The Man, The Movie, The Magic” at the Sandler Center on Nov. 28. Forum President Joel Rubin said the Ynot Wednesdays promotion, while early, “was a great way to get people talking and thinking about Lincoln.”
Virginia Beach resident Emily Bilger said she and her children often attend the midweek event for the music and laid-back atmosphere.
“It was pretty exciting to see President Lincoln here, too,” she said, smiling.
Daughter Zoe Bilger, 7, agreed. “I picked him for my school report,” she said. “I liked his stovepipe hat.”
Rubin said he hoped Lincoln would inspire family attendance at the Virginia Beach Forum as it launches its 17th season.
“We are smaller, community-minded venue here,” he said. “We wanted to reflect that in our speaker series, with greatly increased audience interaction and a nice mix of local and national talents.?
Inspired by the upcoming release of the Steven Spielberg movie, the Lincoln program aims to please everyone from movie fans to historians.
“It’s just one of the ways we are making the forum relevant to audiences with a range of interests and ages,” Rubin said, noting that the March program will welcome audience text messages. “We want people to engage in valuable, thought-provoking conversations about everything from presidential movies to politics.”
Now in its fourth season, the Ynot Wednesdays concert series celebrates a summer in the city lifestyle. The open-air events feature organized family fun, local farm stands, vendors for food and drink, and music from reggae to rock.
While purchasing tomatoes from Flip Flop Farmer, Bruce Henley, attendee Stacy Burns said the event was “really nice and makes it easy to support local farmers.”
Ynot Wednesdays emcee, Marquita Bianca, encouraged Lincoln to dance with revelers. She said Lincoln confided that he once told his future wife, Mary Todd, that he wanted to dance with her in the worst way.
“Later, Mary agreed that he had danced with her, in the worst way,” said Bianca, who owns the dance company, Baila Fuzion. “He did fine – if Lincoln can do it in a top hat, then anyone can dance.”
