A Happy 200th Birthday, Uncle Sam

Eighty-two years ago, when she was three, Alice Mason crossed the plains from Iowa to Kansas in a covered wagon. Last month she flew to Washington in a jet and, sitting in a wheelchair, made her way to the White House Rose Garden. There she gave Presidential Aide Theodore Marrs a 27-in. by 36-in. tapestry depicting a proud American eagle. Mrs. Mason and eleven other residents of a Topeka nursing home had spent six weeks weaving the wall hanging. The work was their way of celebrating the Bicentennial, and they thought the President should have it.

With much the same idea, hundreds of other Americans--and non-Americans from Seoul, Korea, to the Isle of Man--have sent to the White House a remarkable assortment of gifts to mark the Bicentennial in personal, imaginative and warmly affectionate ways. More than 700 presents have arrived, ranging from expensive objets d'art crafted by professionals to projects lovingly sewn, knitted, hammered or stuck together by grade-school classes. The White House has made no attempt to encourage, or even publicize this totally spontaneous patriotic happening.

In addition to gifts, President Ford has received some 50,000 letters and cards from people expressing their love for and faith in the U.S. Says Milt Mitler, the White House official in charge of handling the presents: "You read the letters and you have to be awfully jaundiced not to notice a resurgence of good feeling about the country."

A sampling of what Americans have been shipping to the White House appears on the opposite page, and a larger collection will be on display throughout the year at the Bicentennial Information Center, operated by the National Park Service, in the Commerce Department.

Fred D. Henderson, 48, a mold-maker in an Atlanta glass company, spent about 1,000 hours carving and engraving a Marlin rifle with the images of Abraham Lincoln, the Liberty Bell and such historical events as the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima and the astronauts exploring the moon. "We were just sitting around one evening and my wife said, 'Why don't you do something for the President?' " explains Henderson.

The outpouring of gifts has also produced eagles by the squadron, including one soaring on a handsome water-wash scroll painted by Mr. and Mrs. Chow Chian-chiu, who were born in China and now live in Miami. Members of Girl Scout Troop 208 in Richland Center, Wis., patiently spelled out on a 21/2 ft. by 3 ft. board the entire Declaration of Independence--using tiny letters meant to go into vegetable soup.

President Ford has not personally accepted any of the gifts, but he has admired many and, in the case of one ambitious project, made a contribution--a tie clasp. The trinket will go into a 25-ton, 10 1/2-ft.-tall "Children's Freedom Bell" that the Jaycees of Pfafftown, N.C. (pop. 600), plan to cast and erect on an island in the Anacostia River, near Washington.

The gifts flowing into Washington are only a small part of the presents that are being made or projects that are being developed by citizens for display right at home. Thousands of quilts with patriotic motifs are being stitched together. At the Ohrenberger School in Boston, fifth-grade pupils made an impressive mural entitled The Battle of Bunker Hill, which included the flames soaring over Charlestown and ranks of redcoats advancing on the Americans.

Pioneer Skills. One of the most ambitious presents from Americans to themselves is being constructed near Kent, Wash., by the students, parents and staff of the Park Orchard Elementary School. They are recreating two pioneer log cabins, plus a log barn, an amphitheater and an Indian village. Some parents come off their night-shift jobs and go right to work on the project. When completed--July 4th is the target date--the complex will be used for teaching pioneer skills, such as butter making and weaving. Says Principal James Hasz: "It's been fantastic to see this catch the imagination of people, to see them cutting trees in winter snow and sleet, putting in long hours to build something that will be for everybody."

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