HENRY A. KISSINGER

May 28, 1982

Dear Mr. Robbins:

I appreciated your card which I received while I was hospitalized. Your thoughtfulness and good wishes meant a great deal to me.

tYJ

HENRY A. KISSINGER

March 8, 1982

Dear Ms. Roberson:

The Legend of
Saint Valentine

According to legend, the Valentine takes its name from a young Christian priest who lived in ancient Rome. Like so many of the early Christians, Valentine had been imprisoned because of his faith . . . Often and longingly he thought of his loved ones and wanted to assure them of his well-being and of his love for them . . . Beyond his cell window, just within reach, grew a cluster of violets. He picked some of the heart-shaped leaves and pricked them with the words, "Remember your Valentine," and sent them off by a friendly dove . . . On the next day, and the next, he sent more messages that simply said, "I love you." Thus did the Valentine have its beginning. And so it has been through the ages . . . those who love, remember . . . and send Valentines to express their love.

ASSOCIATION OF MARIAN HELPERS
CONGREGATION OF MARIANS
STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. 01262

VDN-1

Founded in 1969

JACQUELYN ROGERS
Founder

February 11, 1982

Dr. Henry Kissinger
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

Permit me to extend best wishes for a rapid and complete recovery. It certainly is comforting to know that medicine has progressed to the point where surgeons can perform so miraculously and express confidence in the outcome.

Perhaps this is presumptious and inappropriate at this time, but I would like to offer assistance in the area of my expertise. I seen to recall that you and Mrs. Kissinger were smokers. If so, and if your physicians have advised you to abstain, and if you would like some professional assistance to make it "easier", I would be pleased to arrange to have a specially trained SmokEnder Moderator present our program to you, privately of course. Mrs. Kissinger could be included, if she is interested in quitting at this time.

In the event you're not familiar with SmokEnders, I'm enclosing a reprint of an article written by Joseph Califano which appeared on the OP Ed page of the New York Times some time ago.

I hope you don't view this as presumptious. I really do know the special agony of separating oneself from a deeply ingrained habit like smoking-- especially for medical or surgical reasons. And I know that is is possible to do it without great difficulty and pain. And I know that you're worth it!

If this is at all interesting, and you'd like to discuss it, I can easily be reached at 215/250-0700 during the day; 215/258-9072 evenings and most weekends.

Again, best wishes for feeling better than ever.

JR:cm

Enc: P/O/5110

37 NORTH THIRD STREET, EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA 18042 • 215/250-0700

HENRY A. KISSINGER

March 19, 1982

Dear Ms. Rose:

Best regards,

WITH MEN IN MIND
CODE 1028

Current®

©1980 CURRENT, INC., COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80941

[LC]

It takes a lot of special thoughts
and cheery wishes, too,
To make a get-well message
that is nice enough for you...
And so with warmest thoughts of you
this greeting comes to say,
"You're wished the very best of health
today and every day."

Get Well Soon

Mr & Mrs Lawrence Roush

Starting with 14 hot-air balloons rising from Richmond Park, it ended (more or less) four days later with the grandfather of fireworks shows.

In between, Grand Rapids had a party the likes of which it hadn't seen nor probably will duplicate in the future.

Nobody will venture even a guess of how many people visited downtown as participants or spectators.

Some estimated at least a quarter of a million people stood on hilltops and every open vantage point for the fireworks show. Others figured 75,000 lined sidewalks and curbs to watch the celebrities go by in the big parade on Thursday morning, and that 100,000 gathered in the vicinity of the Gerald R. Ford Museum for dedication ceremonies (although only 40,000 actually were allowed on the museum grounds by Secret Service agents).

As for out-of-town visitors, hotels and motels in the Grand Rapids area were booked solid. A Canadian network television team had to be housed in Holland, while other visitors were staying in Lansing, Kalamazoo, Grand Haven and other surrounding towns.

Whatever the numbers, the events of Sept. 14-19, 1981, were a demonstration of what Grand Rapids is capable of when in a festive mood — with a little help from former president and hometown boy Gerald R. Ford, who arrived with wife, Betty, on Monday and lent his presence to most of the goings-on.

The week was called Celebration on the Grand and consisted of about 100 separate happenings, ranging from band concerts to lectures, all of them keyed to three main events.

The city dedicated the Ford Museum, reopened its major downtown hotel after a $24 million remodeling job and moved its art museum from its lovely but cramped quarters into the refurbished former federal building.

Dedication of the Ford Museum contributed most of the excitement, if only for the crowd it attracted.

President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada and President Jose Lopez Portillo of Mexico headed a galaxy of current

and former government officials from here and abroad. There were entertainment legends led by Bob Hope, industrial powerhouses like Henry Ford II, cultural stars like photographer Yousuf Karsh and even a former first lady (Lady Bird Johnson) and former first daughter (Margaret Truman Daniel).

On a walk downtown it was possible to catch a glimpse of a famous person, even though that constituted a weeklong headache for the Secret Service. The agents, in cooperation with local police, had to guard nine American dignitaries around the clock and also provide special security for visiting heads of state.

"We started out thinking it was a simple overnight," moaned one of the agents assigned to President Reagan. "Then it became a summit meeting."

The number of guests who attended the dedication was a tribute to Ford's talent for making friendships in his more than 25 years in national politics.

And, with such a star-studded guest list, the local dedication committee, led by Werner Veit, president of Booth Newspapers Inc., and Richard DeVos, co-founder of Amway Corp., got an anticipated bonus — publicity for Grand Rapids on an international scale.

More than 900 newsmen and broadcast people were on hand during the week. They filed reams of words and devoted hours of network broadcast time to a seldom-noticed Midwestern city.

The celebration started high and stayed that way. The balloons reappeared over downtown Grand Rapids Tuesday morning, and in keeping with the general audacity of the celebration, pilots risked the wrath of federal aviation authorities by dipping their craft as low as possible in attempts to drop marshmallows in the fountain outside the $11.5 million Ford Museum.

There was a glittering party for 600 invited business and civic leaders Tuesday evening which launched the former Pantlind Hotel under its new name, Amway Grand Plaza.

In a ceremony Thursday morning, dampened but certainly not discouraged by rain, the Grand Rapids Art Museum officially occupied

its new quarters.

That night, two banquets honored Ford; one a $1,000-a-plate, black-tie affair for visiting luminaries and those who could afford it, and the other, a $25-a-plate affair in the George W. Welsh Civic Auditorium. Ford appeared at both.

Immediately following the banquets, guests watched the taping of a Bob Hope television special in DeVos Hall — the $1,000-a-platers as part of the live audience and the $25-a-platers watching by closed circuit television in the Welsh Auditorium.

After a week of mostly rain, the day of dedication at the presidential museum dawned cool and sunny, bringing out a huge crowd which included Grand Rapids school children given a holiday for the occasion.

The event began with a parade through downtown to the museum, led by the University of Michigan marching band and with Betty Ford as parade marshal.

Thousands of people, many arriving hours early, jammed curbsides to watch high school bands, elaborate floats and cars bearing celebrities. Stars of the Hope television show were prominent, including singers Tony Orlando, Pearl Bailey, Glen Campbell, Sammy Davis Jr. and Debby Boone, and comedian Foster Brooks.

At the museum, the south parking lot had been turned into an amphitheater with bleachers placed along the rim. A ticket was needed for a ground-level seat inside the lot, but swarms of people sought nearby vantage points. A security fowlup prevented thousands more from getting close to the dedication ceremonies.

At the dedication, Reagan led a roster of distinguished speakers, including all three heads of state. He addressed Ford directly.

"You brought us through difficult and trying times and taught us to believe in ourselves again," the president said.

As the gracious, indefatigable man-of-the-week, Ford seemed to be everywhere, giving speeches, shaking hands, basking in the glow of his refurbished hometown.

He helped prove the basic premise of the week's events, that Grand Rapids people believe in themselves and in the future of their community.

2

# the Summit

Former President Ford described it as a "natural" occurrence.

The three most powerful political leaders in North America just happened to be in Grand Rapids at the same time, so they met.

President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada and President Jose Lopez Portillo of Mexico sat together for a continental breakfast in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel on Sept. 18 just before participating in the dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Museum.

Washington officials said the "Grand Rapids summit" was a "meeting of convenience." The gathering was historic, nevertheless.

The three were meeting together for the first time, and all agreed later the session laid groundwork for future cooperation.

More formal meetings were to take place a month later in a multi-nation meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The Grand Rapids meeting allowed the trio to discuss plans for that session, cement personal relationships and discuss "mutual areas of concern."

The afternoon before the "trilateral" breakfast, Reagan met individually with the Mexican and Canadian leaders and paid a brief courtesy call on Valery Giscard d'Estaing, former president of France.

Representatives of Egypt, Japan and Saudi Arabia also attended the Ford Museum dedication.

Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda announced the day before the Sept. 18 dedication that his nation was donating $1 million to the Ford Library and Museum.

The three-nation, hemispheric summit took place in the Lumber Baron Bar, a room accented with dark wood just off the lobby on the main floor of the Grand Plaza Hotel.

The meeting was confirmed only days before and caught hotel officials somewhat by surprise: They discovered they needed a circular conference table suitable for such an occasion. That was no problem in Furniture City. Mueller Furniture Co., acting on an order from hotel owner

President Reagan and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada dealt with what a senior Reagan administration official called 'very difficult, some would say intractable, problems.' Pictured with them are, from left, White House national security adviser Richard Allen, Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian minister of employment and immigration.

Amway Corp., supplied a mahogany-hued, 10-foot-diameter table and 15 chairs in plenty of time.

Other, two-way meetings between Reagan and the foreign leaders were held in the even less formal surroundings of penthouse apartments on the top floor of the hotel.

Relations between the United States and its closest neighbors are generally cordial, but the leaders had plenty of issues to talk about.

One topic was a multi-nation effort to encourage economic development in the nations in and around the Caribbean Sea.

Reagan and Lopez Portillo were able to narrow the differences between U.S. and Mexican policy regarding the civil war in El Salvador, according to a top United States official.

Trudeau and Reagan talked about acid rain — industrial pollution that floats across the border into the

northern nation — and about Canadian energy development policies that U.S. firms find restrictive.

"We haven't changed the course of the world," Reagan told reporters at one point between meetings, "but we've had a good time."

Lopez Portillo made it clear in his address at the Ford Museum dedication that he believed the Grand Rapids summit had helped strengthen friendship and understanding between the United States and Mexico.

That, he noted, was despite the fact that the leaders were unable to solve any specific problems:

Trudeau said the relationship between the United States and Canada is "in many ways the envy of the world," although he also noted areas where compromise is needed.

As Trudeau noted in his address at the museum dedication: "Even for the greatest nations, there are still mountains to be climbed, races to be won."

6

The 'Grand Rapids summit' the morning of the Ford Museum dedication served both social and diplomatic purposes. Reagan's separate visit with President Jose Lopez Portillo of Mexico was a 45-minute session, as was the meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau. Lopez Portillo and Reagan, in photo below, are flanked by interpreters.

It was the week the world came to town. A trickle of political notables and show business personalities early in the week grew to a steady flow of national and world leaders and Ford administration officials by Thursday, the eve of the Ford Museum dedication. From top are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Sen. Edward Kennedy with 'Good Morning America' host David Hartman in the museum's Oval Office, Lady Bird Johnson, former United Nations Ambassador and Secretary of Defense Elliott Richardson, and, at bottom of page, former White House budget director James Lynn, left, and Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Ford years.

10

House Speaker Thomas O'Neill, top left, said of him and Ford during the former president's House years: "We'd have our philosophical differences on the floor Friday afternoon. But at 5 p.m., we'd quit and say, 'See ya tomorrow morning for golf.'" O'Neill's presence in Grand Rapids, along with that of fellow Democrat and former House Speaker Carl Albert, reflected Ford's broad popularity among members of both political parties. That appeal was also shown in the arrival of former Central Intelligence Agency Director William Colby, top center, who was dismissed by Ford in 1975. At top right is Margaret Truman Daniel, daughter of former President Harry Truman. HST's bust was in Ford's Oval Office. Ford's warm relationship with Japan was evident, left, in his greeting to Japanese Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda.

11

A crowd gathered early to view the arrival of President Reagan, but as Air Force One approached, the Secret Service ordered everyone off the airport terminal's outdoor observation deck. Many scrambled for glimpses through windows, but few actually saw the president. At right, a lone security agent crosses the tarmac.

[L]

12

# the Dedication

Remember the moment. It was 11:34 a.m., Sept. 18, 1981, and at least 40,000 people were gathered on the grounds surrounding the Gerald R. Ford Museum.

A fresh breeze filtered out of the northwest, ruffling the flag that waved above the crowd and bringing a crisp, autumnal feel to the late summer air.

President Ronald Reagan was there, along with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. So were the most powerful men in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Michigan's governor, Vice President George Bush and scores of other nationally known political figures and entertainment celebrities.

But at this moment, all eyes were on Jordan Sheperd, chairman of the local Gerald R. Ford Commemorative Committee, who was standing at the speakers' lectern outside the museum.

"We dedicate this building to Gerald R. Ford," said Sheperd, "and we present it in his name to the people of the United States of America."

That, simply put, was what all the fuss was about.

The Ford Museum was constructed with millions of dollars in donations from individuals, foundations, foreign nations and state and local governments.

When the week-long celebration was close to an end, at that moment in the September sunlight, it became the property of all the people of the United States.

The museum, a sturdy concrete-and-mirrored-glass triangle set back from the west bank of the Grand River, houses the story of the life and times of Gerald Ford. The tale begins with Ford's birth in Nebraska, continues through his youth in Grand Rapids, his years in college and the military, his quarter-century representing Western Michigan's 5th Congressional District in Congress and, finally, his ascent to the presidency.

In addition to personal memorabilia, the museum includes a full-scale reproduction of the White House Oval

For thousands unable to enter the museum grounds, good vantage points were hard to come by.

Office, a display showing how a bill moves through Congress to become law, a sampling of Bicentennial presents given to Ford and a display of gifts from abroad.

Also shown — lest the presentation seems less than objective — are editorial cartoons critical of Ford, the letter of resignation written by Richard Nixon in August 1974 and the document by which Ford pardoned Nixon of all Watergate crimes a month later.

Visitors also may see a motion picture on Ford's life, three brief videotapes about his public career and a slide-and-sound presentation on the Bicentennial celebrations of July 4, 1976.

The Ford Museum was dedicated in a ceremony of unprecedented magnitude for Michigan.

Speakers — all of whom praised the former president — included Grand Rapids' Mayor Abe Drasin, Sen. Donald Riegle of Michigan, Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee, U.S. Rep. Harold Sawyer of Ford's old House district, U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. 'Tip'

O'Neill of Massachusetts, Michigan Gov. William Milliken, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo, Vice President Bush and President Reagan.

Secret Service agents required all spectators to pass through metal detector gates before entering the museum grounds or the adjacent Ah-Nab-Awen Bicentennial Park on the riverbank.

While tens of thousands of people passed through the detectors, a Secret Service communication error closed the gates prematurely and prevented thousands more from reaching the grounds.

The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra opened the program with musical selections. Also taking part were an armed forces color guard, the U.S. Army Chorus and the U.S. Marine Band.

Reagan delivered the major address, hailing Ford as "a man of honor, a man of decency, a man of healing."

"Millions of Americans will follow us to this place," the president said, shortly after touring the museum. "And like us, they will find history here; they will relive — in their own minds and through their children's eyes — dramatic and critically important moments in our nation's life.

"Here they will reflect on the achievements of the 38th president of the United States — they will dwell on what Gerald Ford brought to this nation — and what he gave to his country and his people."

Others echoed Reagan's praise, honoring Gerald Ford as the man who healed the wounds left by the Watergate scandals of the 1970s.

"He restored honor to the highest office in our land by his very presence," said Milliken. Added Trudeau: "He was a good neighbor for Canada, a good friend for me and a good man for our times."

Ford, responding to the accolades, said, "The high point of my life, next to meeting and marrying Betty . . . is always ahead. And today it is here, in my home town and among my friends."

14

the Art Museum

Turning an old post office-federal building into an art museum might have seemed like trying to make a bird cage out of a ball bat.

But the crowds who visited the Grand Rapids Art Museum's "new" quarters during the Celebration on the Grand discovered the old federal building seems to have had an art museum inside itself all those years.

The classic gray granite exterior, the marble floors and curved stairways, the rich oak trim, even a former revolving door niche which now houses a bronze figure by Ernst Barlach, seem to have been designed for art, not postage.

"I can't believe it," exclaimed former museum president Sally Seidman, who came from Washington, D.C., to see the results of an idea first hatched in 1968.

Seidman was part of a crowd of Art Association members and friends who had a preview showing before the museum was open to the public during the Celebration week. Her surprise and delight were understandable. Everything seemed to fit its new function.

Windowed cages where stamps were sold and parcel post was handled became showcases for glassware, plates and other household decorative art.

The old mail-handling area behind the windows now constitutes the main galleries, hung for dedication day with works from the museum's permanent collection, supplemented by such treasures as Edward Hopper's "New York Restaurant" from the Muskegon Museum of Art and Charles Burchfield's "Nighthawks at Twilight" from the Flint Institute of Arts.

The onetime federal courtrooms on the second floor became auditoriums with ready-made platforms where judges used to sit. A smaller courtroom held a handpainted harpsichord on its platform for dedication day, the "largest" harpsichord ever built, and the work of Grand Rapids harpsichord-makers Keith Hill and Phillip Tyre.

The harpsichord was among many

works by Grand Rapids artists, past and present, on view for the occasion.

"This town has had some first-class artists it hardly knew about," said guest curator J. Gray Sweeney, who rounded up paintings from galleries and private collections all over the country.

The lower level of the building gives the art museum something its backers had always desired, but for which they lacked space: a children's art gallery. The section, named "Passageways," had its own dedication ceremony Tuesday with former first lady and native daughter Betty Ford as an honored guest.

The dedication of the new museum on Sept. 16 was nearly a washout.

A steady rain curtailed a planned "Art on the Move" march from the

white-pillared Pike house, the museum's former quarters on East Fulton Street.

Instead of being held outside at the Pearl Street entranceway of the new digs, the dedication ceremony took place in St. Mark's Episcopal Church across North Division Avenue.

Immediately after the ceremony, a small crowd ignored the rain and dashed across the street where Gerald Ford cut the red ribbon which hung between light posts at the scrubbed and polished main south door. Cheers were heard as some 500 helium-filled balloons floated skyward.

After 13 years of dreams, schemes, sweat, money — and maybe a tear or two — the art museum had a building to match its aspirations.

Expanded display space means the museum's permanent collection will no longer be hidden in a vault. The 350 paintings, 1,200 prints, 100 drawings and more than 400 sculptures and objects will be rotated and frequently seen. Former President Ford toured the building, left, with Board President Charles McCallum, on Ford's right, and Museum Director Robert Murdock.

[LC]

28

A gallery especially for children had long been the wish of Marion Bender, the first education director of the art museum. The renovated federal building made possible fulfillment of that dream. Betty Ford dedicated the gallery and, above, joined with the museum's current education director, Pat Kelley, in presenting her old friend a plaque honoring her career.

29

the Hotel

The idea was to create a "world class" hotel by remodeling the old Pantlind and joining it to a gleaming new 28-story tower on the riverbank.

The first phase — the two-year, $24 million redoing of the city's major downtown hotel — was hurried to completion a month early so the reopening could be a part of Celebration on the Grand.

And the old hotel, renamed the Amway Grand Plaza, almost stole the show.

Not only was it a delight to behold, inside and out, but it became headquarters and shelter for the most extravagant collection of powerful and famous people Grand Rapids had ever assembled for anything.

Among the reborn hotel's first guests were two sitting presidents, a prime minister, the U.S. vice president, the foreign minister of Japan, a former president of France and a former U.S. president, the present U.S. secretary of state and a former secretary of state, the widow of a former U.S. president, the daughter of another former U.S. president and a collection of stars from the entertainment world.

For security reasons, much of the hotel's main floor was shut off from the public for long periods of time, but it drew crowds anyway. The swank restaurants and Tootsie Van Kelly's, the hotel's new version of the Pantlind's raucous Back Door Saloon, were open for business. Even hanging around outside had its moments.

If it wasn't a show business personality ducking in or out, it was a Canadian network television crew taping interviews — in full view of the sidewalk crowd — in the greenhouse-like extensions of the hotel's restaurants on Monroe Avenue.

The Larry King all-night network radio talk show was conducted in the main lounge and, on the mezzanine, amateur radio operators contacted fellow "hams" all over the world to tell them about the Grand Rapids festivities and to arrange for each of them to receive a memento of the occasion.

Despite its new look — grander,

Joining former President Ford and hotel General Manager Christian Schunack in formally opening the Amway Grand Plaza were Amway Corp. co-founders Jay Van Andel, left, and Richard DeVos.

some say, than the Pantlind ever was — the memory of the old hotel was preserved.

The main dining room is called "1913 at the Plaza" for the year construction began on the Pantlind (which replaced an earlier hotel at the same location). Tootsie Van Kelly's displays the lion painting, the deer antlers and other touches from its predecessor saloon. Suite 630 of the new hotel is named the Thomas S. Walker Suite for a Pantlind vice president and general manager who served the old hotel for nearly 60 years.

It was Walker who inspired the selection by Amway of Carlton Varney, head of New York's Dorothy Draper and Co., to renovate the hotel. The firm's specialty is renovation of world class hotels, like the fabled Greenbrier in West Virginia.

But Walker didn't live to see the result. He died in 1980.

Former President Gerald Ford and wife, Betty, were among the 600 invited guests at the hotel's black-tie dedication party Tuesday night which

featured, among other touches, an 11-tier cake and music for dancing by the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra.

Ford paid tribute to Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, co-founders of Amway Corp. and fellow hometowners who made the decision to buy and revitalize the hotel.

Ford predicted the Grand Plaza would begin a new era for downtown and give every other city with an aging core something to think about.

In a wistful aside, Ford said he was glad most of the speeches he'd given in the old ballroom when he was a congressman had been thrown away.

One of Ford's speeches in the old days, DeVos reminded him, was delivered at "a little building in Ada" where the Amway Corp., now with more than $1 billion in sales yearly, started as a shirt-tail operation.

The hotel project will have cost some $64 million when the glass-fronted tower is completed, adding 300 rooms to the old Pantlind's 400, plus tennis courts, swimming pools, restaurants, parking areas and a new ballroom, The Ambassador.

32

Guests at the Grand Plaza's dedication praised its fountains, huge crystal chandeliers, plush furnishings, fine woodwork and the ornate sunburst dominating a lobby wall. At right, Ford gives an autograph to hotel employee Linda Ashley.

36

An elaborate pastry table with an 11-tier cake was a feature of the formal dinner at the Grand Center, adjacent to the hotel. The Fords were among 600 business and political leaders attending.

37

the Gala

At the end of the week, Grand Rapids could sit back and say: "Now that's entertainment."

The party, spread over a week's
time, was unlike anything the town had
previously experienced — black tie
dinners, champagne receptions and,
on the eve of his presidential museum
dedication, an all-star stage show
honoring Gerald Ford.

Those who could afford it donated
$1,000 for the right to mingle with the
celebrities at a formal dinner; others
spent $6 or $25 to join comic Morey
Amsterdam and radio personality
Larry King in viewing the Bob Hope
stage show on a huge television
screen set up in the George W. Welsh
Civic Auditorium.

But the best show in town was free.

Throughout the week of Sept. 13,
thousands of local folks gathered on
downtown avenues to do some rare
stargazing and capture an occasional
autograph from an obliging politician
or entertainer.

Led by comedian Hope, a handful
of performers created a glittering
musical-comedy review to honor Ford
the evening before national leaders
helped him open his museum.

Hope, who credits Ford with making
golf a contact sport, recruited for the
show some of Ford's favorite golfing
companions — Danny Thomas,
Sammy Davis Jr. and Glen Campbell
— as well as singers Pearl Bailey,
Gordon MacRae, Tony Orlando and
Debby Boone, and comedians Foster
Brooks and Mark Russell.

Yet the most enchanting moment of
the evening belonged to former First
Lady Betty Ford.

In a sparkling sequined gown, Betty
— a onetime Martha Graham dancer
— breezed through a soft-shoe duet
with Hope. While the comic sang
"Once in Love with Betty" (a take-off
on the familiar "Amy" tune), he and
Betty gracefully performed an
effortless turn about the stage,
delightening the international audience.

And Hope's show was only one ring
in what was to become a three-ring
celebrity circus.

Larry King's all-night radio talk
show originated live from the lobby of
the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

Thursday and Friday mornings. The
coast-to-coast program featured
many of the celebrities from the Hope
show as guests.

"Good Morning, America" and
"The Today Show" awakened their
national television audiences Friday
morning with live reports from the
Ford Museum — at times
broadcasting from within a few feet of
each other. At one point, as "Today"
host Tom Brokaw was turning to face
a camera, mischievous onlookers
shouted the slogan of his arch-rival:
"Good Morning, America!"

The week was full of such
humorous asides, most of them
supplied by Hope and the entertainers

There was much to see,
as dignitaries and
celebrities from around the
world passed by.

who joined him on stage at DeVos Hall
Thursday night.

More than any diplomatic coup or
blunder, Ford's golf game drew the
barbs of comics, including his
neighbor, Hope.

"They have a Gerald Ford highway
here . . . It goes straight about 200
yards and curves off into the woods,"
Hope quipped in his opening
monologue.

Later, Hope, Davis, Campbell and
Thomas launched into a song
parodying the former president's
game.

The chorus was sung to the tune of
"Hail to the Victors," the familiar
University of Michigan fight song, from

Ford's alma mater:

Duck! When you see him swinging.
Duck! When his ball comes swinging,
Watch out for Jerry Ford,
The terror of the links.

Ford didn't fare much better when
Hope reviewed his collegiate football
career during taping for the Hope NBC
television special.

As a football player at the University
of Michigan, Ford was recognized as
presidential timber, Hope cracked.
"Ford played like a president. For him
to tackle anyone took an act of
Congress."

From the warmth generated by
entertainers, an outsider would guess
that Ford — not President Ronald
Reagan — was one of Hollywood's
own.

Why?

"I have developed an affection for the Ford family," explained Sammy Davis Jr. "We've become golf buddies; he plays in my golf tournament in Hartford and I play in his tournament in Vail (Colo.). I told him: whenever you need me, let me know. He sent me a letter saying, 'Would you come?' and I said, 'Yeah, of course.'"

His smile broadening, he added:
"Then I got another letter telling me I'd
be working."

Singer Glen Campbell was
impressed by Ford's honesty and
integrity.

"I first met him at the White House, and he always seemed to be the kind of man that if he told you a hog weighed 25 pounds, you could wrap it up," observed Campbell. "He asked me if I'd like to come back with him and I said I'd love to. In fact, I will be framing his invitation."

"For six years I have been very
close friends with the Ford family,"
said singer Tony Orlando. "Nobody
has anything bad to say about the
man."

At least one of the celebrities
expressed bewilderment at his
invitation to perform. Foster Brooks,
who plays a dignified drunk on stage,
admitted during his act that he knew
very little about politics. "For 30
years," he said, "I thought Henry
Cabot Lodge was a motel."

38

The comfortable relationship Ford has with Bob Hope was evident as the pair toured the Ford Museum for the benefit of cameras taping them for the Hope television special. Taping also included the gala dinner and Hope stage show that night and the parade and museum dedication the next day.

[C]

40

For those attending the $1,000-a-plate dinner preceding the Hope stage special, it was a night for toasts and tributes. Elegant gowns, like Nancy Reagan's glittering silk sheath, made up a parade of fashion.

41

P earl Bailey came to town
with her clock — 'my big
time.' Political satirist Mark
Russell said Ford's triangular-
shaped museum would have
had four sides — if only he'd
been president a little longer.
Danny Thomas, at right,
recalled his rural Michigan
boyhood and his stern, but
loving, father.

[L]

48

[L.C.]

Sammy Davis Jr. belted a 'Start of the Blues,' and Tony Orlando, left, had toes tapping with his familiar 'Yellow Ribbon.' United Airlines attendant Joel Penner, above, received a surprise reception on his airport arrival. He had fun before admitting he was not Tony Orlando.

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the Community

Seventy-year-old Martin Scherphorn, a retired Grand Rapids real estate broker, cast a fishing lure called "Little Cleo" off the east river wall of the Grand River Sept. 16, 1981, and reeled in a 26-pound, 2-ounce Chinook salmon.

Some 700 other fishermen flailed the same downtown waters for four days with Little Cleos and probably every other lure known to man, but nobody caught a bigger fish.

So Scherphorn, winner of the first Grand River trout and salmon fishing contest, joined the instant celebrities of Celebration on the Grand.

They included Phil Vannette, who won the 10-kilometer corporate footrace; Mildred Meyer, who won two blue ribbons in the Penn Mutual Masters Swim Meet; Les Taylor, winner of the hot-air balloon race; and Peggy Higgins, whose floral interpretation of Gerald Ford's presidential trip to China in 1976 was judged the most creative piece at the Celebration's flower show.

Counting everything — including individual performances by musical and dance groups daily, a lecture series at area colleges and a special Grand Rapids Public Museum exhibit centered on Ford's boyhood years — the Celebration included more than 100 separate events.

Not all of them were contests which produced winners — although five youngsters got new bikes in a drawing which followed a rain-dampened "Grand Bicycle Tour" in which about 2,500 men, women and children rode 3.2 miles through streets north of downtown.

But from amateur radio operators who made contact with fellow "hams" around the world from the mezzanine of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel to ethnic singers, dancers and musicians who, in a valiant "the-show-must-go-on" spirit, performed before tiny audiences in a steady rain, thousands of ordinary people were involved directly in the color and excitement of the week.

One event was a picnic for 1,000 people, most of them handicapped, on the grounds of Pine Rest Christian Hospital and Rehabilitation Center.

Representatives of more than a dozen agencies in Grand Rapids which help the handicapped mingled with their charges. Former President Ford was an honored guest. The fun included a sky-diving show.

The picnic was Celebration on the Grand's acknowledgment of the International Year of Disabled Persons.

Not every event was a winner insofar as spectators were concerned. The auction of Ford's personal stamp collection, admittedly not a "distinguished" collection, brought a tepid response from an audience of stamp enthusiasts at Grand Center.

But with Ford's name attached — a name which was pure magic all week — the bidding managed to produce some $20,000, which was to be divided equally between the Ford Commemorative Committee and the Eisenhower Medical Center at Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Years from now, if you asked somebody his most vivid memory of Celebration on the Grand, the answer might be an embarrassment to all human endeavor.

For size of crowd, spectacle and the sheer delight expressed for the thing, honors went to gunpowder.

There had not been a fireworks show in Grand Rapids like the one Friday night which closed out the big day of the celebration. A deliberately small-scale fireworks display on Monday was just a teaser.

Primed by reports that the finale

would be something special, people streamed downtown in a vast, crawling mob of cars, vans and pedestrians. Every downtown open area which offered a view was crowded, particularly the riverbank park in front of the Ford Museum, just across the river from where the display was set off.

People pulled off onto the expressway shoulders to watch, and others found vantage points on the hills surrounding downtown.

They weren't disappointed. The fireworks cost $10,000, and started not with a bang, but with a lot of bangs, plus enough fire in the sky at one point to call out the Fire Department. (An ember landed on the roof of the Hall of Justice on Monroe Avenue, but did no damage.)

The rapid-fire bursts of color and sound lasted for about 25 minutes, building from one climax to another. One major display remained on the ground — a portrait in fire of Gerald Ford, flanked by American flags — and was visible only to people lucky enough to have found vantage points on the west bank of the river.

But that was a minor point. Few people among the watching thousands had seen anything like the finale. As many as four huge bursts of color were in the sky at once and, ascending among them, streamers of orange fire from skyrockets.

When darkness returned, the air still was flavored with smoke.

"It smells like hotdogs," said one delighted youngster.

Rainy weather cut into the first day's sales at the ethnic food booths at Ah-Nab-Awen Bicentennial Park, but Carolyn Johnson, left, and Kathy Bolthouse had fun cooking their bratwurst anyway.

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Never before had Grand Rapids seen such a parade. Behind marching bands came convertibles carrying Hollywood celebrities and elaborate, flower-bedecked floats keyed to personal qualities of the former president: faith, healing, spirit and pride. Souvenir stands like the one manned by Kevin Hall, left, did a brisk business through the week.

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Ewin MacDonald, a 63-year-old resident of the Michigan Veterans Facility, waited in the chilly morning air for the visit of former President Gerald Ford, 'a pretty good man' in MacDonald's view. Ford 'tells people what he thinks ... He will be the first president I ever saw in person and I consider it an honor.' About 100 others were with him outside, while dozens more pressed against the windows. On his arrival, the veterans gave Ford a plaque honoring him for his help over the years. Ford briefly toured the home, chatting with the veterans along the way.

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Monday's balloons rose to the sky in a 'hound' flotilla chasing a 'hare' that had gone on its way minutes earlier. The goal for the hounds was to land on or near to the spot where the hare touched down. The next morning, a dozen balloons ascended from different points on the east side of the city to drift toward the Ford Museum and drop weighted marshmallows in the museum pool. A few balloonists angered federal inspectors when they purposely dipped low enough to touch the Grand River.

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A day of chilling rain wasn't enough to wash away smiles from the faces of cyclists making the most of their chance to participate in the Celebration on the Grand. Jack Ford, opposite page, made the puddle-pocked Grand Bicycle Tour in shorts and a lightweight parka. 'It was either this or a three-piece suit,' he said, explaining that his luggage was missing.

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Six hundred and fifty runners helped bring the Celebration on the Grand to the finish line Saturday. Under blue skies and sunshine, they set off from the Ford Museum, puffed through John Ball Park and finished in front of the Grand Rapids Art Museum in a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) 'corporate run.' Participants ran in teams representing more than 50 businesses and organizations.

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Past the finish line there was joy and pride and — at tables nearby — a bounty of fruits and drinks to refresh and restore. Over the river the night before, a skyrocket spectacular amazed and delighted a crowd said to be downtown's biggest ever.

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An eruption of color and light brought Ford Museum dedication day to a dazzling close. Thousands packed choice viewing spots hours before the show got off the ground. The sizzling spectacle, the largest ever in West Michigan, brought oooohs and aaaahs of awe from tykes and grandparents alike.

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"Celebration on the Grand," Sept. 14-18, 1981, was an extraordinary and historic week for Grand Rapids. To adequately record the week's events through pictures and words required the combined efforts of many, including the entire Grand Rapids Press newsroom staff and other Press employees in essential behind-the-scenes production and support roles. This book reflects the work of all of those people.

— Mike Lloyd, editor

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Printed by West Michigan Printing, Inc.
Cover photograph by James Gerritsen