BLC Museum Dedication

	Thank You! The BLC Museum Dedication Was Completed on April 12, 2008 On Saturday, April 12, 2008, over 250 guests and local officials gathered on the lawn of the old Train Depot building in Bostic, for the building’s formal dedication as our new Bostic Lincoln Center Museum. The building, donated by the town of Bostic, became home to the Museum after an extensive renovation thanks to numerous donors and our team of talented volunteers. The space is now functional as a public museum as well as our headquarters to continue our mission. We are also happy to share some of the space with the Bostic Sheriff’s Annex Office! The Bostic Lincoln Center Officers and Directors wish to recognize and to sincerely thank the entire County and our many supporters and friends, for their significant support that we received for the preparation, opening and formal dedication of our new home! Without this groundswell of involved interest in our mission, we would not have been able to achieve one of our most significant goals, a museum dedicated to the traditional story of Abraham Lincoln’s birth right here in Rutherford County. Though we began the morning ceremonies in the rain, the sun began to shine during the second stanza of “The Star Stangled Banner.” From that moment forward, the festivities began to shine as well. After the formal dedication ceremony ribbon cutting by Bostic Mayor, Mitch Harrill, everyone was invited to tour the museum as well as the Lincoln Hill site. A second ribbon cutting was staged at the museum’s front door and was conducted by Dorothy Melton, widow of our treasured story-keeper, Tom Melton. Festivities then began in earnest including entertainment, great food and fellowship. With our base of operations firmly planted, we begin our next challenge -- to attain more involvement, interest and support in our effort to petition our government to determine Abraham Lincoln’s lineage through DNA matching. Our petition drive is outlined below by BLC President, Keith Price:

		…this so do-able process awaits only our grassroots insistence, through politics, upon the command of our U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology's established and peer-recognized procedures, using their authentic, preserved Lincoln DNA, just as they have already used some to determine that he did not suffer Marfan's Syndrome. Additionally, they are now being asked to affirm/reject two other genetic-identifiable predispositions to other diseases. We ask, to what more important use could these remains be partially used for, than to for the first and final time, explain and describe his basic character, through his total genetics? It is notably significant, that we here in Rutherford County/North Carolina, are the only ones asking for this standard procedural matching with the willing and able male Y chromosome-bearing descendents from the most likely possibilities, including last year's Forum attendee, the last of the Tom Lincoln line, Ernest Lincoln III of Virginia, Andrew Calhoun and Dr. Frank Enloe (his preserved materials, now). Our next principal objective is, thus, before us!
	We began our petition efforts on April 12, during the museum dedication, garnering over 130 signatures. Should you have any items that you would like to add to our permanent or rotating exhibits, or if you wish to sign our petition, or contribute financially, please contact us today! Note: Lincoln Hill is located on private property and you will not be able to access the location unless you schedule a tour through the Bostic Lincoln Center.