July marked the beginning of my term as your president. My connection to the road began before my birth when my father followed his Studebaker Champion down the line at the Studebaker Plant in South Bend, Indiana, and was allowed to drive his new car off the line. My childhood was filled with road trips in Studebakers, many of them along our road.

As an adult I have worked in the areas of education, history, preservation, and the arts. My professional career includes serving as the Education Coordinator at both the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend, Indiana and at The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both museum experiences placed me in the position of interpreting the historic Lincoln Highway.

It was exciting to share the history, but once I attended a Lincoln Highway conference, I was hooked. The members of the Lincoln Highway Association have the passion for preserving the road and that is what makes me stay the course. I am delighted to serve you and look forward to growing the organization along with a talented board and our new executive director.

This is a very exciting time for our association as we continue to promote and protect the historic Lincoln Highway corridor. David Hay, along with our past president, Bob Lichty, will begin to enter into a new discussion with Congress in hopes of gaining a national byway status for the Lincoln Highway. We believe the LHA is positioned to accomplish this task.

Many of you have worked tirelessly to achieve local, regional, state and national preservation successes and you know that a national designation for the entire corridor would be a grand achievement that would serve to benefit all communities along the route. Certainly this would be a timely endeavor as the nation begins to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 2009.

This effort will require grassroots support. Members, local communities, and state leadership will need to be involved at local and national levels as advocates for the designation. We thank you in advance for being a voice for the Lincoln Highway.

The board of directors and the National Office will roll out a number of projects over the next few months. You will be receiving information in the mail, via email (if you have provided your email address), and in the Forum. Please read and respond to these communications so we can move forward with good speed and direction. We will also be asking for your input. We care what you think, so take the time to share your thoughts with us!

In closing I would like to thank Bob Lichty and Gregory Franzwa for taking the time to assist in a smooth transition of leadership for the organization and a thank you to the 2007 LHA conference planning team for a job well done. Be sure to mark your calendars for Evanston, Wyoming in 2008 and for South Bend, Indiana in 2009. Remember to visit the LHA on the web at www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org.

Take care and enjoy the journey!
Jan

The newly elected LHA officers. From left to right: Bob Lichty (Executive Advisor), Sue Jacobsen (Secretary), Russ Rein (Vice-President), Jan Shupert-Arick (President), and Jess Petersen (Treasurer). [Click to enlarge]

At its 15th annual conference just held in Colorado, the Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) elected new national officers and new state directors for Indiana and California.

Dedicated in 1913, the Lincoln Highway was America’s first coast-to-coast improved highway. Still linking New York and San Francisco by 3,400 miles of road, the Lincoln Highway follows U.S. Routes 1, 30, 40, and 50, and other scenic two-lane roads. The LHA was formed in 1992, and has chapters in all 12 states along the Lincoln Highway.

The mission of the Lincoln Highway Association is to preserve and improve access to the Lincoln Highway, facilitate research and publications about the Highway, and work with local communities and merchants to promote the Highway as a tourism destination.

Elected LHA President was Jan Shupert-Arick of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, while Russell Rein of Ypsilanti, Michigan was elected Vice-President. Two serving officers were re-elected: Secretary Sue Jacobsen of Aurora, Illinois and Treasurer Jesse Petersen of Tooele, Utah. Immediate Past President Robert Lichty of Canton, Ohio was named Executive Advisor.

Ms. Shupert-Arick formerly was the LHA’s Vice-President and the Indiana director. She co-organized the 2003 national conference and a 2006 symposium on highway tourism promotion. She has extensive experience in historical museums and arts administration. Mr. Rein is a notable collector and student of the Lincoln Highway’s history, and is the editor of the LHA’s electronic newsletter and webmaster of the Indiana chapter website.

Succeeding Ms. Shupert-Arick as the Indiana director is Ken Locke of Warsaw, Indiana. Mr. Locke conducts Lincoln Highway preservation projects with local Boy Scout troops, and grew up along the Lincoln Highway. California director Robert Dieterich resides in Fair Oaks, California. He is co-author of a book on the Lincoln Highway in California, and currently serves as the chairman of the Association’s Endowment Fund Committee.

In addition to the newly-elected officers and directors, these directors continue to serve on the board:

• Mindy Higgins, Pennsylvania director, Hanover, PA
• Marie Malernee, Ohio director, Canton, OH
• Kay Shelton, Illinois director, DeKalb, IL
• Jeff LaFollette, Iowa director, Davenport, IA
• Lenore Stubblefield, Nebraska director, Shelton, NE
• Randy Moore, Wyoming director, Cheyenne, WY
• Alan Stockland, Utah director, Ogden, UT
• Geno Oliver, Nevada director, Reno, NV
• Olga Herbert, at-large director, Ligonier, PA
• James Peters, at-large director, Sudbury, MA
• Russell Rein, at-large director, Ypsilanti, MI

Elections will be held for some directors at the 2008 LHA conference in Evanston, WY.