M's' Lincoln relives Norman Rockwell moment

[fgoodwin]

M's' Lincoln relives Norman Rockwell moment

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2005/03/07/newscolumn2.html

http://tinyurl.com/acb8m

 

From the March 4, 2005 print edition

Behind the scenes

 

Patti Payne

 

Seattle Mariner's head honcho Howard Lincoln is in Peoria, Ariz., in the thick of spring training. "We should set a new record in spring training attendance based on ticket sales so far," he says.

 

But Lincoln is returning on March 31 for a special event -- the Boy Scouts of America National Endowment Art Tour at Chateau Ste. Michelle -- where some Norman Rockwell paintings will be on display. The most famous of the works is called "The Scoutmaster," and Lincoln has a personal connection to it. Little Howard's 12-year-old face can be seen clearly in that painting, which has been viewed by millions of people over the years, mostly at its regular home at the Boy Scout Museum in Texas.

 

Rewind to 1954 at a Boy Scout Jamboree in Irvine, Calif. Fifty-thousand scouts packed every inch of land. "My scoutmaster Del Anderson told me I was going to be in a Boy Scout calendar along with five other Scouts. We went out and pitched a tent and built a fire in broad daylight. Norman Rockwell was there. He explained the scene was nighttime, a scoutmaster standing by the tent, and we would all be asleep. It was 90 degrees in the shade in the middle of the day." Rockwell took photographs that day, and painting from the pictures, turned day into night, complete with stars.

 

A year later Lincoln got a letter and $25 from the painter, asking him to sign a release. The calendar came out in 1956. Lincoln, who later became an Eagle Scout and more, is positioned to the immediate right of the campfire. He faced forward because he knew that his mother would not be happy unless his face could be seen.

 

"I am looking forward to seeing the original painting. I haven't seen it since it was exhibited in Seattle in the 1980s. And this time I get to show it to (wife) Grace. She has never seen it," he says.

 

To this day he keeps in touch with his Scoutmaster, now 98, who lives in Alameda, Calif. And Lincoln chairs the board of the local Chief Seattle Council, listed as one of the top 20 councils out of the 309 nationally, with an annual self-generating budget of $5.2 million.

[baden]

Great story!!!

 

I love this painting, it is my favorite by Rockwell. I saw the original a couple of years ago on an endowment tour stop. Reproductions don't quite do it justice. The color of the night sky and the stars are breathtaking in the original work. I think about this painting almost every time our Troop camps. This captures the most golden moment for a Scoutmaster (when they finally shut up and go to sleep). Seriously, I am always struck by the responsibility of the Scoutmaster standing watch.