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Nancy Reagan's Connections To Rochester

Artifacts from The Strong Museum helped trim the tree in the Blue Room at the White House in 1983.
white house photo
Artifacts from The Strong Museum helped trim the tree in the Blue Room at the White House in 1983.

Nancy Reagan was not a regular visitor to Rochester, according to what WXXI News has turned up Sunday.

She may have accompanied husband Ronald for a campaign stop on November 1, 1984. President Reagan spoke at 3 pm at the then Rochester War Memorial on a blitz from Boston to Rochester to Minnesota.

Nancy Reagan did appreciate the Strong Museum. UPI reported in 1983 that the museum provided 12-hundred antique dolls and dollhouse furniture to decorate the tree in the Blue Room of the White House using an "old-fashioned" theme.

President Reagan and Nancy Reagan posing for photos with White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room on December 11, 1983.
Credit white house photo
President Reagan and Nancy Reagan posing for photos with White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room on December 11, 1983.

Another 40 Strong Museum teddy bears were on display in the Grand Hallway and state rooms at the White House. Mrs. Reagan is quote as saying the President loved them.

Celebrating Nancy Reagan's fashion sense.
Credit Strong Museum
Celebrating Nancy Reagan's fashion sense.

The Strong also has a copy of artist Tom Tierney's 'Nancy Reagan paper doll' publication recognizing her fashion sense.

Rochester's Doc Lilac nursery lists a Nancy Reagan variety, although the website shows it's not available. The purple/purple flower is described as "lovely as its namesake; a very hardy, heavy bloomer."

Brad Smith won the Cortland County (NY) spelling bee as a seventh grader from Homer High, in a championship broadcast live on local radio. Brad’s been trying to relive the “magnificent” (winning word) moment ever since.