Guest Opinion | Discovering Lincoln on Orcas Island

— from Pamela Doerr —

Last summer a visit to the Country Corner laundromat became the setting for an unexpected historic moment. Usually a boring task, this conveniently-located complex turned into a lesson which revealed to me how close we really are to our Nation’s presidents. As we celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s 208th birthday I wanted to share this event.

So, I was seated in the reading corner of the facility trying to obscure the boring events ahead of me: wash, dry and fold. At the same time, I innocently became acquainted with a doting, creative mother and her 2-l/2 year old son. Indeed this brown-eyed child was fully engaged in coloring books and Crayolas. I tried to focus in my newspaper, however, my interest waned. Then, I spotted a new penny languishing beneath the tables and chairs.

I decided to point it out to the family, suggesting that perhaps this might be a “lucky” penny. and it captured his interest. The duo were seated next to the machines of choice so she could multi-task, as women are so adept at doing: both supervising and doing the family laundry.

Indeed, the boy’s artistic project was soon put on hold as he jumped down to the floor and retrieved the shiny coin. He never lost focus, however, as the lollipop he had been digesting was never dislodged. He deftly crawled under the tables and captured the prize.

It was only then that his mother revealed the coincidence of this retrieval. She shared that her son’s name was Lincoln. So, in the end, an hour at the laundromat recorded a moment in history. After the penny found its new home clutched in his tiny hands, the doting mom took advantage of the event. She carefully explained, to the 2-1/2 year old Lincoln, about the presidential profile on one side. Then turning it over, the side bearing a shield and the words, “ONE CENT and E Pluribus Unum”.

It becomes quite simple when you consider all the images on our coins and bills….our history is right in front of us every day. We just need to take a moment and read it before we spend it. Happy President’s Day and spread our wealth of knowledge around. It makes perfectly good cents to me!

In 1909, Teddy Roosevelt introduced the Lincoln cent to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the 16th U.S. president’s birth. At the time, it was the first American coin to feature the likeness of an actual person (as opposed to the personifications of “liberty” appearing on earlier designs). Fifty years later the Lincoln Memorial was added to the penny’s reverse, complete with a tiny representation of the statue within.