May 22, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 19 Glen Rock Roundup Learn to can, freeze, and make jam Sharon Allen will present a program about canning, freezing, and jam making at the Glen Rock Public Library on Wednesday, June 12. This 7 p.m. program will include step-by-step canning basics for food and jam, the tools needed to get started, and garden to freezer instructions. “Canning, Freezing, and Jamming: 101” is sponsored by the Friends of the Glen Rock Library. Registration is not required. The library is located at 315 Rock Road. Volunteers sought The committee for the Annual Independence Day Parade fundraiser is seeking volunteers to sell prize contest tickets in front of Kilroy’s Supermarket. Volunteers are needed to man the tables on weekends and after school. This year’s grand prize is a 5,500 watt generator. Proceeds from this contest will help support the borough’s Fourth of July celebration. To volunteer, contact glenrockparade@gmail. com. Library offers computer classes The Glen Rock Library will present a class on Microsoft Excel is set for May 29 at 7 p.m. Registration is required. Space is limited and Glen Rock residents will receive preference. The library is located at 315 Rock Road. Call (201) 670-3970 for more information or to register. Club sets program Raymond A. Edel will present “Container Gardening” at the May 21 meeting of the Glen Rock Garden Club. The club will meet at the municipal annex building at 678 Maple Avenue at 7:45 p.m. Edel is a certified Passaic County Master Gardener. Program on ‘water wars’ slated The Glen Rock Environmental Commission will present a screening of “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” on May 29 at 6:45 p.m. The program will be held at the Glen Rock Public Library at 315 Rock Road. The film examines environmental and political implications of the planet’s dwindling water supply. The community is invited to join a discussion on how to conserve and protect fresh water in Glen Rock. This event is cosponsored by the Glen Rock Environmental Commission and Food and Water Watch. Poison Ivy Workshop set Paul Mast, landscape specialist, presenter, and a Rutgers Certified Master Gardener, will present a workshop on the many disguises of poison ivy at the Glen Rock (Thielke) Arboretum at 460 Doremus Avenue. This June 2 program will begin at 2 p.m. and will be held rain or shine. Poison ivy is a deciduous, woody perennial. This plant is one of the leading causes of allergenic dermatitis on the East Coast of the United States. The cost to attend is $10. Admission for arboretum members, seniors, and students is $8. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate clothing, boots, and rain gear. Visit www.glenrockarboretum.org for additional information. Studio Stars to be presented Studio Stars, the Glen Rock Community School’s theater camp, invites individuals who are ages eight through 16. This three-week summer program will begin June 24. Studio Stars provides a unique theater experience, including opportunities to sing, dance, and act in an original production. The program is designed to foster self-confidence, teamwork, and self-esteem. The experience also includes stage presence, understanding stage direction, scene development, character development, and delivery of dialogue. Directors Ron Onorato and Carmen Boscia have written, directed, and produced Studio Stars for 25 years. The program is located in the air-conditioned auditorium at Central Elementary School. The session will be held from 9 a.m. to noon from June 24 through July 12. The final performance will take place July 12. For registration information, visit grcsonline.com or call the Glen Rock Community School at (201) 389-5011. Volunteers sought The committee for the Annual Independence Day Parade fundraiser is seeking volunteers to help stuff the 4,500 envelopes with tickets for the fundraiser contest. This year’s grand prize is a 5,500 watt generator. Proceeds from this contest support the borough’s Fourth of July celebration. To help with the project or to participate in the parade on July 4, contact glenrockparade@gmail.com. Press releases for this column may be e-mailed to editorial@villadom.com. Deadline is Wednesday at noon. ‘Mary Todd Lincoln’ (continued from page 7) Mary’s father was delighted to have a male named Robert in the family again, after the loss several babies or children with that name. “He was the first Robert who survived,” Mary said of her first son, who was eventually the only one of her four sons who outlived her, and had a child of his own. “It made my father very happy. He gave us money....” While Abraham Lincoln was out of town riding circuit, she used some of the parental gift to have additions put on the Lincoln house. “When he came back to town, he asked someone where the Lincoln house was. He didn’t recognize it,” she giggled. Mary had a keen political sense and she was delighted when Lincoln was first elected to Congress. He lost his reelection bid after one term, in part because he said he thought the Mexican War of 1846-1848 was unfair and unnecessary. But when Lincoln was offered an appointment as governor of Oregon Territory, Mary told him to turn down the appointment because Oregon was too far away from Washington to further their mutual ambitions. Mary noted with some pride that, in the election of 1860, when Lincoln ran for president, her former beau Stephen Douglas ran as the Northern Democratic candidate and her cousin John Breckinridge ran as the Southern Democratic candidate. Only John Bell, the Constitutional Party candidate, lacked any ties to Mary. The death of their son Willie in the White House, after a harrowing 52-day battle with diphtheria, led Mary to explore Spiritualism as a way of keeping in touch with Willie and her other dead son Eddie. She convoked séances, some of them at the White House, and firmly believed that she was in touch with Willie, Eddie, and other relatives. Mary was a life-long staunch Presbyterian in moral terms, and Jordan, stepping out of Mary’s character, doubted there was any sanity issue involved in her affinity for Spiritualism. “Many people stayed in touch with their children and parents,” she said. “At that time in Boston there were more mediums than Abolitionists.” Mary then returned. She admitted that, after migraine attacks in a jolting wagon, she caused her husband considerable embarrassment with a shrill verbal attack on Julia Dent Grant, and a jealous tirade against Mary Mercer Ord, the beautiful younger wife of General Edward Ord. Both women shunned her afterwards, and the Grants even snubbed her when visiting Europe, where she lived for some time after her husband’s assassination. Adding what many in the informed audience saw as new information, Mary explained that, while she was raised by family slaves, both sides of her family manumitted their own slaves before they were compelled to do so. She opposed slavery as unjust. Mary said she often splurged on fashion. She had her seamstress and confidante, Elizabeth Keckley, make 16 dresses for her at the height of the war. However, she also had Elizabeth sew for wounded soldiers, and Mary wrote letters for them to their families during many visits to Army hospitals. Jordan has portrayed a number of historical celebrities, including Amelia Earhart, Martha Washington, Clara Barton, and Dorothea Dix. Last week, she received two bursts of sustained applause: the first as Lincoln and the second as Jordan. Ridgewood Village Manager Ken Gabbert and Village Clerk Heather Mailander took in part of the lecture at their lunch hour, and everyone who attended seemed to come away with a most favorable view of a controversial first lady.