Abraham Lincoln was one of the most remembered and appreciated presidents due to his great leadership and courage to lead his country through the good times and the bad. He made his mark on history and left behind his legacy for the rest of us to admire. Meredith and his wife attend my church, but Meredith is no ordinary guy, he is extraordinary, he is…Abraham Lincoln.

Meredith plays the role of Abe Lincoln regularly. His looks are almost identical to Lincoln; his hair, his height, his wardrobe, his face, and his top hat all contribute to the final appearance of Abe. He even has his own business card that reads “Experience the Life of Abraham Lincoln’” and “as presented by Meredith Ayers.”

Meredith started this “hobby,” I guess you could call it, in 1972 when a school asked him if he would read a story about Abe Lincoln. When I asked Abe how many events he had participated in, his only response was “a lot!” What interests someone to go out and decide to play the role of such a famous hero?  For Meredith it was when he dressed as Abe in a parade held in his hometown of Flora, Indiana. Meredith’s other jobs and hobbies include being a dairy farmer and wood working.

Meredith stated that he has never regretted being Abe even with the very little pay that he receives for his performance and his wife, whom he met through church, supports him. He has never had any bad experiences or any disturbances in the crowd. He has been involved in events in Michigan, Illinois, school programs, and others that he couldn’t quite recall. The farthest he has traveled for a Lincoln-related event is Washington D.C. for Lincoln’s 200^th birthday celebration. “It was also my favorite presentation,” added Meredith. There are in fact special requirements for the role Meredith plays, but dying his hair black before an event is no big deal compared to the guidelines and requirements of other jobs. He doesn’t even have to take classes or pass a special test!

The number of books written about the 16^th President of the United States scream awesome with a total of 15,000 titles. In order to obtain this type of information, a group of historians in Washington D.C. wanted to do something very memorable by retrieving every book they could get written about Lincoln and put them in an enormous stack that was stories tall, eight feet around and 34 feet, or three and a half stories tall to be exact! The only learning, studying, and preparing Meredith does is reading books about Abe and there were certainly enough to pick from.

Have you ever wondered if there were such thing as a club or big group or “Lincolns?” Well actually there is! Meredith is part of the Alp. Association of Lincoln Presenters. Meredith doesn’t have a deadline date set on how long he plans on acting. He said he would act whenever someone asks because he enjoys his job. Do people ever question Meredith’s appearance? Meredith answered “Yes, often in restaurants.”  Meredith says his favorite things about acting are that “children say I look like Abe and most people look up to Abe” giving him a sense of importance to fill such big shoes.