In memories and stories, Reagan is still alive

It really hasn’t been that long since Ronald Reagan was president of the United States. It was just 30 years ago, in November 1980, when the streets of Dixon erupted with jubilation that may never be matched.

I wasn’t even 1 year old yet when he was elected president. And during the next 8 years, I grew up with only bits and pieces of who he was – seeing him visiting a Cubs game, being parodied in music videos, quick cuts on the nightly news. For me, there isn’t any firsthand knowledge of who Ronald Reagan was as a man.

But luckily for the residents of Dixon and the entire Sauk Valley, the stories are easily conjured up, if you just ask. And asking is precisely what we have been doing through the Reagan Oral History Project being conducted by Dixon Main Street and the Dixon Historic Center. With the help of Ann Lewis and the Rev. Scott Porter, we have collected stories from local people about our hometown president.

The project is rather simple: We ask people to share their firsthand accounts of Ronald Reagan and what he meant to them. Listening to those stories has been a real treat, but not just for the knowledge about Reagan’s life, but for the impact the story has on the teller. As participants recall their Reagan stories, you can feel them being transported in time, going back to the moment that will be vivid in their minds for the rest of their lives.

Stories of being saved by a handsome lifeguard, sharing a handshake, watching a parade, the cold weather they stood in to see him, or the smile that crossed Reagan’s face when they mentioned they were from Dixon – the stories are abundant.

In a recent USA Today article titled “Ronald Reagan: A ‘folklore’ president who led a revolution,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley was quoted saying: “He’s become a folklore president. He’s as much Buffalo Bill or Kit Carson as he is Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson.”

That is one of the best descriptions I have heard of Reagan. The lore, the stories, the memories, are what make him special to Dixon and those of us who live in the Sauk Valley, but it is also what makes him special to people all over the world.

After hearing so many stories, and being lucky enough to help bring Reagan Trail Days to the community each summer, I have amassed plenty of Reagan stories and lore to tell to visitors and friends. At times, I even feel like I knew him because the stories are still so alive and fresh in the minds of Sauk Valley residents.

So, as we celebrate Reagan this year, think about how his legacy will be remembered. Share the stories you may have with your friends and family and consider sharing them as part of the Reagan Oral History Project. The stories you share with the project will be archived and saved at the Dixon Historic Center, and copies will be sent to the Reagan Library in California and the Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield.

As for my best memory of Ronald Reagan, well, it is the movie “Bedtime for Bonzo.” I have never seen the movie, but as a little boy, my father always let me know it was the end of the night when he told me, “It’s bedtime for Bonzo.”

And, of course, I now tell my sons the same thing.

Note to readers – Josh Albrecht is the executive director of Dixon Main Street, which organizes the annual Reagan Trail Days in August and the Reagan Oral History Project.