A large crowd of Edgar County GOP faithful gathered Feb. 23 at The Step Station for the annual Republican Lincoln Day Dinner.

Edgar County Republican Chairman Doug Cochran welcomed attendees to the annual dinner and introduced guests, including Rep. Adam Niemberg, (R-Dieterich), Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) and Aaron Del Mar of the 5th District State Central Committee.

Guest speaker was Lincoln reenactor Randy Duncan of Carlinville. Duncan relived events that took place before and after Lincoln’s run for presidency.

He covered issues of slavery and social events with excerpts from Lincoln’s speeches to large crowds and supporters.

Using Lincoln’s words, Duncan said, “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.  You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. 

“You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wager payer.  You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.  You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”