![‘Laughing Lincoln’ Coming to Naperville’s Central Park](http://townsquare.media/site/671/files/2018/04/515174938.jpg?w=980&q=75)
‘Laughing Lincoln’ Coming to Naperville’s Central Park
A man who was never photographed or painted with a smiling, let alone laughing face, is about to get a makeover in Naperville.
A Naperville public art group plans on celebrating Illinois' bicentennial with a life-size statue of a laughing Abraham Lincoln in the Chicago suburb's Central Park.
From the Naperville Sun:
Naperville Century Walk president Brand Bobosky tells The Naperville Sun that the jovial, knee-slapping version of Lincoln is meant to show a different side of the 16th president. Bobosky says Lincoln "had a great sense of humor." Illinois state historian Sam Wheeler says Lincoln could be "hilarious to be around." Bobosky calls the statue a "birthday gift to the state of Illinois."
The group has about $50,000 for the statue and installation, about half the amount needed. Fundraising will continue through September. Century Walk plans a gala the day before Illinois' Dec. 3 bicentennial, when the completed Lincoln statue will be dedicated.
In spite of what we may have been taught in school, it turns out the Abraham Lincoln had a marvelous sense of humor, and loved both hearing and telling jokes:
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