Hello Hanna

Thank you to all of those who have signed the petition to save Illinois history. If you haven't yet signed the petition, please, please, please, please, please do so: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ihpa. I don't mean to beg, but I am really hoping to gather at least 1,000 signatures before the end of the month when all of the IHPA employees lose their jobs. Please also tell other people about this petition. The quicker we can get the word out there, the quicker something will hopefully happen within the Illinois legislature to fix the problem.

I was very excited that the Chicago Sun-Times contacted me this morning, and they are thinking to print something about the petition this coming week! (The Sun-Times is the more conservative version of the Chicago Tribune.) I have written to numerous Illinois newspapers, Senator Durbin, and many IHPA employees. Hopefully we can get the wagon rolling here and try to do some kind of good. It breaks my heart to think of all of the work that people like Linda have done to try to preserve and protect Illinois' historical resources, and now they're basically being told that all of their efforts have been in vain. There is something definitely wrong with that picture. Thank you again for your help, everyone!

Tomorrow Mom and I are heading to Washington D. C.! Unfortunately so is Tropical Storm Hanna, who is expected to turn back into a hurricane here pretty soon. I guess that will make our trip more exciting? We were originally planning to visit Mount. Vernon on Saturday, which is the day Hanna is supposed to arrive, so we might change our plans and head to George Washington's house on Friday instead. I am very, very, very excited to see Washington D. C.!

Mount Vernon is a completely self-sufficient historic site. The house is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association which was started by Ann Pamela Cunningham back in 1853. Ever since its creation, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association has relied solely on private donations for its operations. Now Mount Vernon is maintained completely by entrance fees, gift shop revenue, and restaurant purchases. That's the way to run a historic site--then you don't have to answer to anyone or worry about a crazy governor taking all of your funding away. I'm afraid that eventually any historic sites left in our country will have to become private entities.

I will write about all of Mom's and my Washington D. C. adventures when we return next week!