2012
Railsplitter Festival - Lincoln, Illinois September 14 - 16, 2012 Copyright LDN 2012
7
social events such as local parades and are
usually visible at the Lincoln Art & Balloon
Festival, both downtown and at the airport.
Saturday morning Hickey was joined by
two members of the group with their horses,
Mayor Keith Snyder, Darlene Begolka of the
Logan Railsplitting Association, Geoff Ladd
of tourism, and Paresh Patel, owner of the Best
Western Inn, for a ribbon-cut dedication of the
benches.
Each person expressed appreciation for the
donation.
Ladd had spoken earlier in the day about the
benches, saying they were a beautiful addition
to the covered wagon site.
The wagon has been a popular tourist
attraction, drawing visitors all year-round.
While people were there for the ceremony
Saturday, a family from Jacksonville stopped
by, and a couple out for a motorcycle ride on a
bright, sunny day stopped in as well.
The family from Jacksonville was heading
out to Eaton Fields, where the two boys would
be participating in a football game against the
Lincoln Youth Football team. The family had
seen the wagon and decided to stop in for a
quick peek. They read the roadside sign that
stands at the head of the wagon, chatted a
minute with Mayor Keith Snyder, then went on
up the road to the football game.
The wagon was built by David Bentley,
a former police officer, in 2001. For several
years it stood at the Divernon exit of Interstate
55,
south of Springfield.
In 2007 it was purchased by Larry Van
Bibber and donated to the tourism bureau.
When it arrived in Lincoln it was placed
at the intersection of Woodlawn Road and
Lincoln Parkway.
In 2009, Paresh Patel took over the
Lincoln Country Inn and converted it to a
Best Western. Patel owns the green space
in front of his motel and invited the tourism
bureau to place the wagon on his front lawn.
The wagon was brought to its new home
in December of 2009. Since then, work has
been done to make the wagon more stable. A
new cover has been put on the wagon and is
supposed to be more weather-resistant than
the original. Landscaping has been done
around the wagon, and now the benches
seem to be the finishing touch.
The wagon, which is 40 feet long, 12
feet wide and 25 feet tall, is recorded in the
Guinness Book of World Records as the
largest covered wagon in existence. It also
features a much-larger-than-life Abraham
Lincoln seated and reading a law book.
In 2010, the wagon was also recognized
by Reader’s Digest as the No. 1 Roadside
Attraction in America, based on their polling
of 1,100 readers.
[
By NILA SMITH]
