The Harlan-Lincoln House hosted a very special guest on Monday. An event held at the Union Block of Mount Pleasant saw a young man from Buffalo, New York, share his vast knowledge on a subject he cares deeply about.

So, what is it that a 21-year-old man is so interested in? Typically, you might expect cars, the stock market, or maybe a sports team. This is not the case for Ethan Afshani. He has a vast knowledge and collection of the 16^th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln memorabilia.

Ethan Afshani began collecting Lincoln memorabilia on his 17^th birthday, and it has turned into an insatiable hunger. He recently contacted the Harlan-Lincoln House to ask about a pair of glasses belonging to the Lincoln family at one point. As fate would have it, the young man from New York would be in a town just a 3-and-a-half-hour drive away on Saturday. After more conversation, it was determined that he could share a presentation in Mount Pleasant.

Many people sat in awe as Ethan shared different items of his collection and dove into the history behind them. A white house dining room chair from Lincoln’s time, a pair of his reading glasses, and even 5 hairs from the late president, were just some of the items he shared today.

Ethan spoke about the process of proving what is from Lincoln and what is fraud. Apparently, there are more fake items than real items. When asked if he had ever purchased a forgery when he was younger, he responded “I couldn’t afford it!” He stated that many forgeries are around the same price as real items.

He now owns a chair that the Lincoln family brought to the White House. It then went to Abraham’s wife, then his son, before it was sent to a businessman. After that, a school owned the chair before trading it to an antique dealer, where it circulated through multiple antiques dealers before landing in Ethan’s collection. He doesn’t plan on seeing it go through so many hands anymore, as he commented, “I’m taking it to the grave.”

His collection of around 60 items is impressive, yet he would love to continue to watch it grow. The Harlan-Lincoln house has a wide variety of items related to the 16^th president. According to Ethan, the glasses on display that were owned by Robert Todd Lincoln are very rare and historic, as he has only seen one or two others.

The Harlan-Lincoln House will resume regular hours in March. For more information or to schedule a tour, visit Harlanlincoln.org.

There’s trouble in Van Buren County, as there have been two thefts reported in Milton in just the past 3 days. On February 17^th, a Honda CR125 Dirt bike was reported stolen from a yard on Old Main St. Today, an older model Green Polaris Ranger with homemade wooden doors was reported stolen from a yard of a residence on E. Harris St.

Please call the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office if you have any information regarding these thefts at 319 293 3426. You can also text the TIP line at 319 931 3973.

The Mount Pleasant Community High School have released the following information regarding upcoming parent-teacher conferences.

“We will be hosting Parent-Teacher Conferences February 27 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm and February 29 from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  We are again going to use PTCFast.com to schedule conferences.  During the registration process completed online, you will need to indicate if you wish to have the conference via Zoom (Z), by telephone (T), or in-person (P).  The website will have you fill out some general information to register your student.  When you register your student, it will prompt you to write their first & last name.  When you enter your last student’s last name, put in parenthesis your desired method of the conference.  For example, when you write the student’s last name, follow the following format: “Stone (P)”.  When you have finished the registration process, PTCFast will send you an email that will lead you to an appointment schedule to choose your preferred conference time.”

Use the link below to schedule your student’s conference.

https://ptcfast.com/schools/MPCHS

If you do not have internet access, please contact us via phone at (319) 385-7700.

It was a busy day for the Mount Pleasant music department on Saturday. Ms. Westfall and Mr. Creager took 18 students to the Clear Creek Amana Honor Band event which is now in its 4^th year of existence. This turned out to be a great opportunity for the students to experience playing in an auditorium. The students had fun, played well, and even learned!

The same day, InMotion showchoir took the long bus ride to Pella where they competed in the Dutch Masters Invitational. Here, they completed the incredible 3A sweep, which is 1^st place in the class, best vocals, best choreography and best band, all in 3A. Congratulations to the group on a fantastic day!