One little girl, Lacy Condon, is very interested in Presidents of the United States. She wrote a letter to Santa asking him if he could give her a visit with the presidents. This was actually no surprise. You see, Lacy has been fascinated with all of the presidents, past and present, for about a year now.
It started last year when she signed out a book about the presidents at her school library. She was just beginning to learn how to read and the book was difficult reading for her age, so her Mom picked out the things that she thought Lacy would find interesting, like that President Reagan was an actor, President Carter worked on a peanut farm, etc. Apparently, she loved it, because she signed out a different book about the presidents the next week. She asked some great questions and Mom answered them the best she could.
At Christmas, Lacy received a really great interactive toy from her Dad that had a picture of every president. When a picture is touched, the toy gives a brief description of each president and their term in office. She was absorbing this information like a sponge. No one realized to what degree until they went shopping. Lacy was making a purchase with her allowance money and Mom was trying to teach her how to count out enough to cover the cost. The cashier was then trying to quiz Lacy as to how much change she thought she would be getting back. Lacy looked back at her with a very puzzled look and then piped up and proudly announced, “I know a lot about the presidents!” So, the cashier quizzed her again by asking her who the first president was. Lacy knew that one. She proudly announced, “George Washington!” The cashier then teased, “Wow, that’s great! How about the 16th president?” Lacy blurted out, “Abraham Lincoln!” Mom was amazed at how much her daughter knew, and then realized she has a real interest in presidents.
Before long, she was able to rattle off every president in order of their terms served. She knows all sorts of little factoids about them, like that President Cleveland served twice and that President Taft was the largest president. She impresses anyone who hears her talk about them. She took part in her hometown pageant and told all that she knows about the presidents (including naming them all) for her talent presentation. She dressed up like Abe Lincoln for Halloween.
So, as her sisters sat writing their letters to Santa, Lacy sat there pondering what to write after “Dear Santa.” That’s when she asked if Santa could arrange a meeting with the president. Mom told her that Santa could certainly arrange something as great as a meeting with the president, but that would be unfair to President Bush since he will probably want to spend Christmas with his family. She agreed with Mom and then continued to write down some things that Santa would be able to take care of. She had now asked for books about the First Ladies of the United States and about the states themselves. Santa can handle books!
Mom marveled over her daughter’s request, and it occurred to her that maybe she should write some letters to the President and past presidents in hopes that she would receive a response. There is a small, 7-year-old fan in northern Maine who’s one of the proudest of all to be an American. They didn’t receive anything in time for Christmas, but still was excited when Lacy received a large envelope in the mail from President Carter and the Carter Foundation. She received an 8 X 10 photograph, a biography of President Carter and some fun word finds.
Then Lacy received a very personalized letter from President Clinton, which he signed himself, “Bill Clinton.”
Lacy has started a collection of presidential items and is probably the only child in Aroostook County that has a matted, framed picture of President Bush and Jimmy Carter in her bedroom!
Lacy Condon is the daughter of Rick and Tammy Getchell of Mapleton and Troy and Bobbi Jo Condon of Ashland.
