It’s common knowledge that between grubbings of arugula, President Barack Obama likes to indulge a pretty wicked sweet tooth. Similarly, the president himself
has acknowledged that our fair city occupies a sweet spot in his heart. So to
express the capital city’s gratitude to Obama for celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s big 2-0-0 with us in February, Kathy Jo Sutva combined POTUS’ love of confections and the capital city with a sort of Mad Libs-style
candy-gram.
Using emptied candy wrappers inserted for key phrases, she advises 44: “Don’t be like past presidential ‘Nerds.’ Instead, ‘Take 5,’ go to a ‘Symphony,’ or take a ‘Fun Dip’ in the pool!!! You have many ‘Good and Plenty’ supporters in Springfield, Illinois and we wish you ‘Munch’ more than ‘100 Grand’ BEST WISHES!!
Sutva even went so far as to remove the actual sweets, which she replaced with
cotton, colored beads and a colored wooden block, and enclosed all the receipts
to quell suspicions over security. And she acknowledges the possibility that
Obama may never set his gaze upon her creation. She just thought it would be a
nice gesture.
Springfield mayor Tim Davlin seems to agree, offering a letter to accompany the card, which was mailed last
week, that reads: “Kathy captures this combined pride of city with pride of country. . . Her time
and efforts have enchanted my staff.”
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2009.
