Community Corner
Presidents Join Patrons for Annual Dinner at Yours Truly
Local actors bring history to life for patrons at Yours Truly
There, in a back corner table of the Mentor restaurant, sat five former presidents.
What’s this? Another back-room political deal?
No, it’s Dinner with the Presidents sponsored by Monday to celebrate Presidents Day.
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Although these presidents --- Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses A. Grant, James A. Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft --- have been dead for years, they certainly have not forgotten how to work a room. President Garfield was accompanied by his wife, Lucretia Garfield, and Eleanor Roosevelt also was on hand as well, but her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was unable to attend.
“We’ve held dinner with the presidents for four years,” said Shauna Orch, a Yours Truly manager. “It’s a good community outreach event, and it’s educational as well. Our customers enjoy it.”
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The presidents and first ladies are played by actors from Northeast Ohio who enjoy bringing American history to life and educating people about some of our nation’s most-well-known presidents. To play their characters as accurately as possible, they closely study the lives of the presidents and first ladies and dress in the stylish clothes of their times.
“I’m passing through town trying to get more votes for my Bull Moose Party,” joked President Roosevelt, played by Bob Hodder, a Richmond Heights Schools teacher whose favorite method of educating his students is to simulate historical events and characters.
“I think it’s great for the kids to learn about American history,” commented restaurant patron Norman Brobst of Mentor. “I like the fact that they really know a lot about themselves.”
Elementary school student Stella Sommers of Waite Hill seemed to know a lot of about President Taft.
“I read how you got stuck in the bathtub at the White House,” Elementary School Student Stella Sommers, told President Taft played by Dale Liikala.
President Taft may have had an embarrassing moment, but for Stella’s grandmother, it was a good laugh she’ll always cherish.
For more information about the historical actors, please visit www.wemadehistory.com.