Nearly 100 Riderwood Retirement Community Residents and General Public to Celebrate the Truman Years at November 10 "I'm Just Wild About Harry!" Fest in Silver Spring

SILVER SPRING, MD--(Marketwire - Nov 4, 2011) -

WHAT:
"I'm Just Wild About Harry!" -- a November 10 celebration of the Truman years by nearly 100 residents of Riderwood retirement community and the general public. This festive event is being held in partnership with the Beltsville Library and the Prince George's County Memorial Library System. It will kick off an Oral History project between Riderwood and the Prince George's County Memorial Library System and it will include the following:

• A discussion of "Truman," the Pulitzer Prize-winning-book written by David McCullough, led by Barbara Spears, the Branch Manager of the Beltsville Library. Note: Riderwood residents used their Beltsville Library cards to check out the book and have been reading it in teams of four people for the past month.
• A rousing Kazoo performance of the song "I'm Just Wild About Harry!" by participants. This song, which was written by legendary jazz composer Eubie Blake, served as Harry Truman's Presidential Campaign song.
• "Eyewitness" testimonials by Riderwood residents of what it was like to live during the Truman years. Stories will include:
  • A resident who worked for the Kansas City Star newspaper who was assigned to cover the death of Harry Truman's mother.
  • A resident who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.
  • A resident who was Truman's neighbor in Independence, Missouri.
  • A resident who was working in the Chicago news bureau the night when the Chicago Tribune published its iconic headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman."
  • A resident who has in his possession a rare banner displaying logos of all military organizations that was carried in Harry Truman Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington, D.C.
• Displays of historic military and other memorabilia from the Truman Years.
• A Harry Truman Trivia Contest.
• A Harry Truman Look-a-Like Contest.

WHEN AND WHERE:
Thursday, November 10, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., in the Montgomery Station Performance Hall at Riderwood, 3140 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD.

NEWS/PHOTO OPS:
All participants will be available for interviews and photos.

As Harry Truman might say at a time like this: "The Buck Stops Here."