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Active aging
March 2015
Encounters with Eisenhower By Erin O’Donnell Newton Presbyterian Manor As the state’s largest airport adopts its new name – Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport – Kansas residents are revisiting the legacy and memories of the only U.S. president to hail from the Sunflower State. At least two Newton women will never forget meeting “Ike.” Dorothy Legge and Rosella Arellano each had a personal encounter, giving them a glimpse into the private life of the small-town boy who became president. As a young woman in 1950s Abilene, Legge worked evenings at the Lamer Hotel. The hotel, which was also known as the Sunflower, was Eisenhower’s hometown base of
operations. It was known as “The Little White House.” Legge was the hotel transcriptionist. Every evening she would record the day’s transactions and accounts. She
Dorothy Legge
Courtesy Photo
said Eisenhower and his entourage would take over the building’s top floor – the eighth, which made it Abilene’s tallest building. Once Eisenhower gave a speech inside the hotel. Legge remembers people packing the streets for two blocks in every direction. Loudspeakers were posted outside so everyone could listen. She also remembers how the hotel tried to meet every request of the president and his staff. “They always wanted liquor, and Abilene was dry at that time,” she recalled. “So we had a man that came in every night and brought liquor. I had to handle the exchange.” Eisenhower was the first president Legge ever voted for. She was dumb-
founded when he dropped in to talk to her at work. “One evening, unbeknownst to his staff, he came down and visited with me without the permission of the Secret Service,” she said. “It was just like visiting with my dad. I really enjoyed him. He was very pleasant.” The president asked her about her family and their farm. He was especially interested in Legge’s father, who happened to be friends with former president Herbert Hoover. “At first I was kind of scared, you know – how am I going to talk to this man?” she said. “And after we started, it was like talking to my best friend.”
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