Saturday, December 6, 2014

METRON DECEMBER EVENT - THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE

We enjoyed a perfect day today at The Little White House in Warm Springs, but the absolute highlight of the trip was a surprise visit with the amazing, 91-year old Marion Dunn, who was featured in the recent Ken Burns documentary, 'The Roosevelts: An Intimate History'...

Mr. Dunn was a "push-boy" for FDR, and is a veritable harbinger of firsthand information about the 32nd President, and about so many other things that I can't begin to describe the impact he made on all of us...his astounding life experiences with both Franklin and Eleanor, serving in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam, farming, conservation, GA history, and country life (he dressed a buck yesterday and brought home-grown produce with him) are nothing short of astounding...he is a living time-capsule of the 20th century...

Today we had already toured the museum, and the house, and had seen the FDR impersonator re-enact the Pearl Harbor Speech in honor of tomorrow's date, and all of that was great...I told everyone to meet at the entrance and we would discuss our impressions from the whole experience...but just as we were leaving, somehow Mr. Dunn just sort of magically appeared in our midst and started talking to us, and suddenly the whole thing came alive...I didn't even see him walk up, but our connection with him was instantaneous, and we stood there and fired questions at him for over an hour about a little bit of everything, and he never moved from the spot and answered everything we asked with perfect recall (I'm talking dates and locations and juicy insider-information from behind the scenes) about everything...his energy, his hearing, his wit, his keen mind, his memory, everything about him was beyond inspirational...

We finally had to leave, but I think if we had stayed with him all afternoon he would have stood right there and talked to us...as we were absorbing it all, Col. Ernie was googling his name and finding out even more things about him to ask...as we were leaving, Avery Price Rogers asked him what he was doing there today, and he responded, "I just felt like I needed to drive over here today for some reason"...wow, I know why he was there...we will never, ever forget the awesome Mr. Dunn, and how he made our trip to Warm Springs so special...I feel like we time-travelled today and touched history...



10 comments:

  1. Pamela Holbrook said...

    Another perfect day!

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  2. Deb Perkins Muehlstein said...

    Wow... What amazing timing that everything lined up for such a blessing! That will definitely be a day you will remember...bummed we didn't get to join you today but excited we will be ITB tomorrow... I know you will share your experience with us in the service ...can't wait!

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  3. Avery Price Rogers said...

    You captured the gift that he was and the moment we were given perfectly, Bishop...

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  4. Howard Blount said...

    Envious!

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  5. Richard Russell Jr. said...

    That is so cool!

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  6. Lori Finch Coyne said...

    That is simply amazing. Gave me chills.

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  7. George Sandler said...

    Next time let me take you on the tour of the homes and other stuff there. I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but I lived on the grounds from age 3 until I was 11. Our first home was James Roosevelt's cottage and then we moved two houses up. All of the homes there featured hardwood floors (not that laminate stuff) and lots of cool features. I also grew up swimming in the pool that is now a tourist attraction. My dad was the pro at the little 9 hole golf course, which unfortunately is not being used anymore and nature has kind of taken it over. We had lunch every Sunday at Founders Hall. So many memories...having gurney and wheelchair races down the hill. Sometime I will tell you all about the place, from a native!

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  8. Sandra Rosser said...

    Wow, how exciting!

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