The Lavish Celebration of Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 6th 2011 at 3:00PM

Today is Super Bowl Sunday but it is also what would have been Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday. The legacy of the 40th President is being celebrated at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley, California which has recently undergone a $15 million renovation. The library first opened in 1991. This weekend marked a series of events celebrating the Ronald Reagan centennial including the official unveiling of the new library. The newly improved library will be open to the public on Monday.

Writer Kelly DiNardo took a previous tour last week, checking out the exhibits which trace the life of Ronald Reagan from his childhood in the Midwest through his career as an actor and his ascendence through the political world. The library now includes the navy suit that Reagan wore during the 1981 attempt on his life which has not been on display before. The library also gets a big boost from technology in the form of video screens, a green screen that lets you star aside Reagan in one of his movies, and the use of 250 iPod Touch devices which provide an audio tour but also allow the guest to take photos and videos off the tour which can later be accessed from the library website. An interactive exhibit has guests designing their own china and floral displays for a state dinner. The Reagan Foundation has also curated a YouTube channel featuring top Reagan moments and also has a Facebook and Twitter presence.

Meanwhile, the chefs at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village have been busy. The celebration includes a six-foot-tall celebration cake with five layers decorated with symbols associated with Reagan's life from Hollywood actor to California governor to U.S. president. Two layers are made up of mixed colored Jelly Belly jelly beans and the top layer is licorice flavor. The hotel also cranked out more than 1,500 cupcakes (also decorated with jelly beans). A total of more than 20,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans will be used to decorate the cake and cupcakes. According to an article on MSNBC, chocolate cake was Reagan's favorite flavor. He also loved always kept an emergency chocolate cake aboard Air Force One, just in case anyone flying with him was celebrating a birthday.

Tags: ronald reagan, ronald reagan 100 birthday

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dregstudios Feb 6th 2011 5:27PM

What a celebration of The Gipper’s 100th… Did Reagan rid the world of commie scum? I’ve posted my portrait of him from my Cult of Personality series on my site at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-100th-gipper.html Let me know what you think.