LEGACY LIVES ON AT LIBRARY.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. -- It was the one time in Julie McClendon Law's life that she felt like a princess, dancing at the inaugural ball near President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan. And as the Reagans walked through the ballroom, they stopped to chat with her -- a campaign volunteer from Baton Rouge Baton Rouge (băt`ən r  zh) [Fr.,=red stick], city (1990 pop. 219,531), state capital and seat of East Baton Rouge parish, SE La. -- and shake her
hand.
``I consider it the most special event of my life to have shaken his hand, as well as Nancy's, and to hear the kind words he had for an ordinary citizen who believes in him,'' McClendon Law recalled. Like many of the visitors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs and Museum's 15th anniversary celebration Saturday, McClendon Law got a little teary as she talked about the 40th president. Reagan died in 2004 and is buried at the library. But even alongside exhibits recounting the president's boyhood in Illinois, his Hollywood career or his wedding to Nancy, some visitors viewed the memorabilia through misty eyes. ``He was just a special, special man and he never lost his hometown roots,'' said Judy Near, 68, who traveled with her husband, Andy, 73, halfway across the country to celebrate the library's anniversary. Judy Near has been a volunteer tour guide at the Ronald Reagan boyhood home The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home is the house located at 816 South Hennepin Street, Dixon, Illinois in which the late former President of the United States Ronald Reagan lived as a youth beginning in 1920. in Dixon, Ill., for 20 years and she attended the library opening exactly 15 years ago this weekend. She and her husband recalled the president's down-to-earth personality -- the way he really listened when they spoke -- and his reverence for the Midwest town where he grew up. But the library also captures the rugged, ranching and cowboy West that became Reagan's image. The museum showcases a half-dozen saddles, including one from the former Soviet Union, that were given as gifts to the president during his tenure from 1981 through 1989. Nearby are 372 belt buckles he received, a collection of spurs and a walking stick made from a rattlesnake rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, hollow segments of skin, which, when shaken, make a whirring sound. . The museum, which opened Nov. 4, 1991, in a ceremony attended by four other former U.S. presidents, also includes artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. and papers from Reagan's years as governor of California The Governor of California is the highest executive authority in the state government, whose responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced. . The most popular exhibits offer folks a glimpse into the world of the president. The new Air Force One pavilion features the plane that flew seven presidents around the world from 1973 through 2001. Simi Valley resident Bill Edwards was one of the original docents when the library opened and his favorite exhibit is the replica of the White House Oval Office. Fifteen years later, he said, people are still awed by the room and seem a bit more quiet, a bit more respectful in it. < ``It's such a wonderful remembrance of not only President Reagan but of all the presidents who have run their presidencies out of that office,'' Edwards said. For the anniversary celebration, the library brought in a jazz band and offered special tours and lectures on the museum. Chatsworth resident and longtime Reagan admirer Bette Butler helped slice sheet cakes decorated with images of President Reagan. She's volunteered at the library for more than 13 years. ``This gives me great satisfaction that I've contributed a minuscule minuscule Lowercase letters in calligraphy, in contrast to majuscule, or uppercase letters. Unlike majuscules, minuscules are not fully contained between two real or hypothetical lines; their stems can go above or below the line. amount to history and can help people understand what the president was like,'' she said. kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour Simi SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative edition only) Bryan de Vries de Vries. For some persons thus named use Vries. touches the hand of the Reagan statue at the entrance of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum's main lobby. (2) A cake with a picture of Nancy and Ronald Reagan was served to museum attendees during the Reagan Library's 15th anniversary celebration Saturday. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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