Burr Ridge Patch | Mayor Gary Grasso Helps Send Off ’50 Capitols in 50 Days’ Traveler Mickey Straub

A small group of friends, neighbors and co-workers of Mickey Straub, as well as couple of notable public officials, gathered Saturday morning at the Veterans Memorial outside Burr Ridge’s Village Hall to send off the 55-year-old resident as he begins .

Straub, a 55-year-old Abraham Lincoln enthusiast, will begin on Sept. 4 what he hopes will be 50-day trip that will take him to all 50 state capitals. He plans to recite aloud the Gettysburg Address on the steps of each capitol building in an effort to bring attention to what he believes are the 16th president’s core principles: God, Liberty, Unity and Equality (GLUE).

Straub’s trip officially begins on Tuesday, but he left Burr Ridge Saturday morning for Gettysburg. His first capitol will be Harrisburg.

Mayor Gary Grasso was on hand and spoke briefly on behalf of Straub’s village.

“Go with the thought that Burr Ridge is behind you,” Grasso told Straub. “It is certainly a remarkable thing that you’re doing.”