oswald at the time he was shot. [applause] you might want to save your applause because i have a lot more here. eugene boone the sheriff who discovered the rifle on the sixth floor of the depository that day and also in that area we have phyllis hall and nurse from parkland hospital who was in the room when president kennedy died and over there is rose lodge who was in houston at the time of the assassination behind rows we have the wonderful julia reid who is 82 governor john connolly and pierce almond one of the first reporters inside this building after the assassination. pierce was later our tour narrator which continues on the

sixth floor exhibit today. i think i got that section. i did want to go through this quickly. we have eyewitnesses of the assassination. we have tina who was her youngest photographer at the time of the assassination. seated behind tina are dylan dale neumann the closest eyewitnesses to president kennedy at the time of the shooting and james payton is here today. he was supposed to be here. i'm not sure if he isn't not if he is or not but that's okay. we hope all is well with jim. we had some other folks here. wayland roads who was the tenth jury selected in the jack ruby trial is here today. is bill williams here? i know we have others and we have been number of museum founders in the front row. allen and cynthia montville are wonderful documentarians accreted the film. where are --

they are the exhibit designers which continues to -- jackie mcelheny is here to did research and was involved in reconstructing the snipers perch. and number of our board members past and present are here. they see john crane and joel johnson rubin as to tell us here somewhere. we are so happy to have all of the here today. there are so many friends and families and professional colleagues. we are so honored to have all of you to celebrate the museum's history and to look back on how the museum became a reality. i have written a book about the history and is an introduction before introduced these two ladies i want to go back in time a little bit and provide a little context and understand what happened to this site between november 22, 1963 and when these fine ladies became involved in this project in the

1970s. we have to start with the day of the assassination. these two women here, we wouldn't be here today and they would not be able to speak in this historic place without these two women. we and history of them a great debt of thanks so we are honored to have you here with us today. i want to begin with the assassination of president kennedy would have a profound impact on people around the world. here in dallas this was a devastating tragedy that left indelible wounds that were not easily healed. virtually overnight mourners and and -- transformed and at the center of this experience was the book depository. there was an immediate public outcry to tear down the structure. many in the community view the

structure is an eyesore and a painful reminder of the assassination. the anger directed locally if this building and the international criticism that dallas endured after the assassination. in the months and years leading up to president kennedy's visit any local mob minority of extremists dominate the political image of the city and in the aftermath of the president's death dallas for a stigma as the city of hate that took years to shed. ashamed and angry dallasites distance themselves from the darkest moment in the cities modern history. eager to put the assassination behind them local residents did not forget to honor the memory of president kennedy a bronze marker was unveiled in the plaza in 1966 while the john f. kennedy memorial was dedicated nearby in 1970. it was here in this building that visitors from around the world estimate over 1 million annually, they gathered at

dealey plaza to assess the -- dealey plaza and experience history for their own eyes. there was initially an effort by senator mike mccool from the state of texas to purchase the building but he found no support in the senate and the 1970 and national music for motor purchased the building at a public auction hoping to open a museum and research center but unable to secure financial backing he lost the depository 1972. at this point a public outcry to demolish the building gained momentum. community leaders from tom landry to ross perot advocated tearing down the depository and a group of business executives formed organization called dallas onward and pledged over $100,000 to purchase the building and demolish it. ultimately after that dallas city council opposed demolition permits on the building dallas county led by joseph should

arrange to purchase the depository as part of a 1977 on the package. after several years of renovations the building was renamed the dallas county administration building housing commissioners court public works and the civil division of the dallas attorney's office. upon its reopening in 1981 he received the texas historical marker and is acknowledged for the first time. the question remains however what do we do with the sixth floor and that is where our story begins today. then that you were chair of the dallas county historical commission with the county built the building. take us back to your first visit to that empty floor and your first reaction when he found out there might be an exhibition on the sixth floor of this building.

>> we were disappointed to see the historical commission chairman. i was down here a lot and i was not looking at this building. my eyes just wouldn't -- and in fact i gave bus tours to the doctor's wives when conventions were in town. i remembered turning the corner in houston. the bus lifted to the right side and they all said is that? i was kind of offended that was all they wanted to see in dallas because obviously i had put it out of my mind. that when i was appointed as

chairman of the historical commission and being down here at great deal and seeing the visitation incredibly all day and all night and in all kinds of whether there were visitors looking up at the window, go walking around and it became evident that something needed to be done. you are the hero of today. we are so appreciative of the masterful job you did in this book. it it has recorded all of our ups and downs and he did such a wonderful job. >> well, thank you. >> my first hero was the facilities director of dallas county. i would go to the commissioner meetings and meet various commissioners and here him talk about the possibility of acquiring this building.

it was not news to me but he handled that so you can fully. therewere 10 miracles that occurred that through judson's efforts -- the building was acquired and number two the commissioners court decided to hire an architectural team, a group that had done the sedco building. i don't know if any of you remember that wonderful restoration? it was one of dallas's first major historic reservation projects. he also worked for the governor governor -- [inaudible] so that was such a relief. as a preservationist these people that were so knowledgeable of the historic buildings would be working on it. it gave me a total sense of comfort that i was called one

day to his meeting. we went to judson's office and they were telling me about martin giroux. i had met robert giroux. he was such a wonderful man and i had no idea that he was a holly did -- hollywood producer. i just knew he loved history and sub the three of us were over at judson's office and he brought us across the street and walk us through this dusty and terrible building to the back elevator, freight elevator and we went up to six. they had an elevator in the front but it just went to two floors. so when we walked into that empty space and we walked across the floor come to it was a

profound experience. it is one you will never forget. i looked out the window and i had never held a gun in my hand. i looked down and i thought, this is so close. that is a misnomer. generally by the general public that this is a great open space. really it's not. it's very regressive. realizing what we had ahead of us and how important this was i literally signed on to do anything that i could to help promote, not promote the to build something on the sixth floor that would be part of dallas's history and the history of the world.

what happened on that terrible day. so that is where conover comes in. >> absolutely. conover the first thing you did for this project was see what visitor interest there was an exhibition on the sixth floor. you did a visitor survey and you had some difficulty finding statistics for visitation. tell us about that. >> the texas historical commission called me and they gave the historical commission a 500-dollar grant to bring in the visiting specialists. [laughter] low-end the whole little did i know. so i went to judson schuck and i said what kind of statistics do you have then he went what? there was nothing about the letter -- dealey plaza.

the idea of 10,000 square feet of valuable downtown real estate for nonprofit is something that the taxpayers might ask questions about the less some very arguments could be made for the public interest. i've called the convention of visitors bureau and they said we don't have any statistics. if you want to know about interest in south fork -- i said south fork isn't even in dallas county. they said well that doesn't matter. i said well, to how about nieman marcus? i said you have got to have something in the city because we do not have anything on interest in the assassination site pair went back to judson and i sit judson lets say we do a quick survey so we did. it was a one-page questionnaire and we put people out in dealey plaza for the course of a week or so. i had gone to employees whose

office overlooked the office. are there a lot of people there their, just a few people there? there was obviously a huge interest and we did a survey and came up with 100% of the people surveyed said that under the right circumstances and educational exhibit for the public about the event in the schoolbook depository they would want to. if the state paid for it they did not want to pay. if the private people did it they were willing to pay a modest amount. that was the basis on which we went forward to the commissioners court saying there is interest and applied for a grant from the national endowment for the humanities, the only federal grant to god and they gave us about $8600 to bring in a panel to study. the county was getting ready to

begin the renovations to the building and the 1963 elements of the interior of the building were still present. the hurt sign was on the building. we brought in gene george may he rest in peace. he died in january. the resurrection architect very highly respected not just in texas but nationally, who we promptly dubbed moses. >> we did because he didn't say much but when he spoke we all listened. [laughter] >> we have this panel and we all sat together in the panel said who is that? i said that as the media and they will be taking pictures of us the whole time we meet and they did. but the decisions needed to be made and genes examined everything. he came back and said here's what you need to do.

everything that was removed was recorded if not all of it preserves than critical elements were preserved. so. >> and you remember the discussion and that was very difficult for gene and george because it puts such an identifying marker on the city. he felt that if we removed it there with the a cry, what happened to the hurts sign. we went upstairs on the roof and we walked around and it was just squishy. it had caused great? in the building so it became very evident that something needs to be done. he saved the panels. >> it's interesting on the third floor of this building they

installed a structural trust that in some future date weight down. if they did want to put the sign back up their it would support the wind load. it was like a giant sail pulling the top three or four stories of this building off. it's a wonder did and just head right out and end up in oklahoma. a lot of things one into that. go ahead. >> lets talk from him specifically about the sixth floor. in the early 80s of obstacles and barbara george come on is exhibit designers. talk about how you create it -- create and execute exhibit narrative and fitted into a warehouse space where you have to lead visitors up to the southwest corner at the right moment. >> bob and barbara ought to be up here to explain that because we have relied on them.

>> there is a miniature exhibit and john wright here said we are probably the finest exhibit designers ever and certainly in the united states. they did not want to come up to the floor. they were very kind and very generous and they did come one afternoon. there is bob staples and there is barbara. they immediately -- you could see the wheels turning. this needs to be preserved. this needs to be preserved. this could be done in a certain way and so excuse me for interrupting because that was a key element of that that later they will called and said yes they would be on board. they said she knew we were

determined so it might as well get done well. >> and it was. >> in the summer of 1983 with the model of the exhibit the two of you went out into the dallas community to speak to community leaders like stanley marcus and john stemmons to try to convince the dallas establishment that this exhibit needed to happen and that it served a purpose. take this into one of those meetings. tell us how one of the city leaders responded. [laughter] >> i don't remember that one. i will say this. we had our own projector and our slide and we had a blank wall to protect our slides on with these different is this man. we went to stanley marcus, very

gracious and he looked around and there was not a blank wall and the whole place. buying him was this priceless tapestry. he reached around behind his desk and put up a great big piece of parchment with his caricature on one side and he turned it around and said to the secretary brings some thumbtacks he himself thumb tacked it to the wall so we could do our presentation. he was very kind and very supportive. that was interesting. we went to see eric johnson. >> oh boyd. >> i will never forget it is everyone relives where they were. i don't care if you were six years old or 80. you remember where you were and what was happening. so there is eric johnson who was

called on to go to the kennedy funeral home and represent dallas. you can imagine anything harder than that i don't know what it would need. and then he came back to dallas and answered a call to be the mayor and then you know helped. shall we talk about john? >> that was the hatchet. remember he had a hatchet on his steps? >> i tend to forget things i don't like. >> just as well. i didn't forget that. >> john crane was the director of the historical society and was becoming the first president i ever had in 50 years. johnson was on the board and the publishers of both papers were there.

it was a dynamic group. i knew these men and we made it a point to go and see john. his brother whom he had it toward head died and his sister-in-law still had an office next to john. he called his longtime assistant in and sat down as i told the story with the slides. all of a sudden wonderful grace stemming six future self and his assistant excused herself and conover and i were sitting with john stemmons behind this big desk. he is about 6 feet 4 inches. he didn't say a word and finally

he spoke. he said well it has to be done. you girls go ahead. [laughter] so it was that kind of adventure. >> in the early 80s this exhibit ran into a number of delays and obstacles and outside forces. i want to go through a couple of these. initially the national park service did not consider this to be an historic site worth preserving. initial fund-raising efforts were unsuccessful. the attempted assassination of president reagan brought attention to on dallas. john hinckley had brought the gun used to shoot reagan here. that pushed fund-raising under the table for a couple of years and then there was an arson attempts during the 1984 republican national commission. the building almost burned down. >> oh goodness. he was accustomed to answering the phone in the middle of the night and about 4:00 a.m. one morning he answered the phone

and she said she is still asleep and then he said it's for you. [laughter] this reporter and i have forgotten which paid her -- paper, called and said mrs. adams there is a flyer in the texas old book depository. mind you this is towards the end of the republican national convention when everyone was still here in town. so i quick we ran down here and by the time i had gotten here and i was visiting with the county judge -- i mean we were just like what else could happen? they had the fire under control and it turned out to have been set and it was arson in the basement with a lot of the things that mr. simpson had that they had donated to us.

there was no great loss except damage to the building but it was something that could be repaired. >> and number of these obstacles got anywhere underway but there is this also this prevailing notion that this was not going to work at an exhibit in this building would enshrined to be harvey oswald and you had to battle these feelings in his animosity towards the idea of anything is stored in this building. i want to take a quick look at a video clip. dari: took this clip and we want to thank you for allowing us to show today. we are going to look at a clip from late 1986. you will hear about ongoing efforts to try and raise interest and awareness in the sixth floor project. >> plans to build an exhibit recounting president kennedy's assassination. the display which will be set up on the sixth floor of the old schoolbook depository.

stan reports on on the efforts to raise money for that exhibit. >> thousands of tourists visit the site of the kennedy assassination every year but for many looking around the outside is not enough. >> i would like to go and i would like to see what happened. >> what she and other visitors want to see is the sixth floor of the old schoolbook apposite tory the spot where lee harvey oswald is said to have fired the fatal shot. but this phase in what is now the county administration building remains closed to the public trade the historical historical exhibit once scheduled to open this year remain several years away. >> we have not really gone to the public to ask for funds in almost two years. >> reporter: lindalyn adams acknowledges the tight economy has pushed it is way lower on the list of major countries but she said a study completed last week suggests a new fund-raising program. the historical display a

collection of photos documents and film clips will cost $3 million to set up. >> the accounts of events surrounding the assassination of john fitzgerald kennedy. >> to help raise the money a six minute per brushoff table be updated and circulated to business leaders and the public. by early next to the dallas county historical foundation hopes to kick off its new three-year fund-raising campaign. >> is a tragic part of history but it is present and we feel it needs to be handled in the best possible way. >> visitors comments and the foundation's guestbook showed continuing interest in the sixth floor exhibit. foundation officials hope the public will respond with money. adams says the display will not be what critics call a memorial to an assassin but rather a chronicle of the events of november 22, 1963. some say however it's still too soon. >> so late 1986 and everything

changes in january 1987 with the new dallas county judge lee jackson hit quite to your surprise pledge to support and the not gration that he wanted to see the sixth floor become a reality and everything took off after that. >> well, before that almost the day before, we had a visitor from the national parks service in santa fe. his name was richard sellers and he wanted to see the sixth story. he was here for the cotton bowl game. we took him up and we told him about the plans that have been developed through the years by all of the consultants. he said this more than meets the standards of the park service and he was very interested in doing what he could to help. so that was so terribly

exciting. and then to have lee whom i had never met make this announcement in his inauguration when he became the county judge was just surreal. so this started the final push to have that in a vacuum and conover -- charge when she did so beautifully. >> it wouldn't have finished if it would have been for conover and her ability and her drive and all that stayed with it through the years and the various planning meetings that we had. >> lets talk about construction for a minute. conover there a couple of stories i would like you to share with. you're paddling outside forces. you were battling dart who

wanted to build a subway on the grassy knoll. early on you had a problem matching the specifications. ..

>> i said let me make sure i get your name and telephone number as i said because when the your time calls and asks why they build an elevator tower that looks for all intents and purposes that looks like a dream sickle i want to be sure i can give them your contact information. [laughter] actually is the only time i saw davis mouth all open he looked at me afterwards and said that ought to do it. [laughter] there were delays it was amazing it all came together in the nick of time. >> vicki evidenciary hearing the key of the sixth floor

and how that site was prepared? >> they were laying a new floor when they took place that had not gotten to the corner windows so they knew the flooring and i -- the florida was there. so we go to go in and pull up the plank but that was not the problem the problem was the civil section of the d.a. that was immediately beneath the sniper's perch on the fifth floor. when they ripped it up dead spiders, a historic third we said we would preserve

center but it ended up in his office. [laughter] somebody said we have a problem he was in his office and the man was totally bald without hair on his head. i look and in the frame of the picture there were little bits of radu and stuff all over the sofa and i said this is terribly embarrassing and he said just tell me that it is over [laughter] i said it is done we will send somebody down to clean it up. >> the visitors center was being built with the new mandate in the historic area and we watched from the fifth floor and i feat he

said the worst thing they could find was he had made while a guess what appeared? the administrators said is it a felony if we fill the dan? [laughter] -- fill it is and? so as she was saying that if we find any bones then we have to do a completely new dig so to provide a little levity, a group of people got together for the april fool's joke kind of likes the museum of natural history. it was tagged and shellacked

but it wasn't very impressive. he was never late in -- never totally thrilled with the project and his part was to cut in with television reporters and said judge, i just found out that there is a woolly mammoth bone you know, what that means another $75,000 in the newsmen said i am afraid i must ask you to leave. [laughter] of course, my part was to hold the of bone. [laughter] to even do like this. [laughter] it worked so then jed

jackson said come over here to the window and then here were all of his friends say april fool's. [laughter] we thought there may be repercussions. as jackson led this court in such a wonderful way he was our champion keeping it from any controversy. >> talk about the content you have a limited space to tell a important story even in the context of 1960's american history. how did you work with historians or conspiracy theorist? those 27 people who hate -- helped to shape the content? >> the preliminary design design, what was missing is

what cave back to life in a 1987 was the documentary film makers when they came in to complete but at any rate there is nothing about the content that you could not question. so we had a large number of experts from the cia, you name it. it ended at being 20-something that would arrive at what a consensus of what the facts were, if you go into the exhibit and gary will correct me, he always does. three different times that the officer was shot. there is a lot of the contradictory information. we have an official but investigations, overviews of

the conspiracy theories and a tremendous amount of information went into it. there are 100 pages of text on the walls that is 50 pages too much. there is about a 35 percent overlap between the content of the film and what is on the wall and the label. it was very much we are all very aware. some people go through an exhibit and a run. some people read and find every typo in the whole thing. it was carefully balanced out the we had a wonderful dinner party with that generation of conspiracy theorist. and the head of the select committee with a respected

researcher and it was the incredible to dinner party i would not recommend anyone have such a dinner party. [laughter] we survived. just tremendous amounts of beverages were consumed. [laughter] nobody eight anything at all. but they insisted we we're doing history and needed an approach you could not do an exhibit on their theory versus another and we have a responsibility to say how tax dollars had been spent and it all worked out. too many people don't know the editor was judge jackson who was a terrific editor. everyone was involved.

there was a lot of coordination. everyone came together. retired cia, and this guy applied for a job. what do you think? keep them close. but everyone was very helpful but everyone finally got the idea that we we're doing something that was more important than any of the individuals involved and we we're doing it for the public. the public was people from all over the world that were confused about in any event and to it was dallas's kermit to deal with and that is basically what happened. >> opening day february

february 20, 1989 in the sixth floor is under the media microscope and a few detractors but mostly praise. i remember the frontpage read simply today we stand whole again. linda you were there that day with a ceremony at the commissioners court in 1700 people filed through. tell us about opening days. >> people kept asking for my autograph. [laughter] i could hardly sign. but we think each other. fort it would not have been dead if not forward teeeighteen and her ability and drive. >> and i think her. >> we have the president of the national trust and was

spoken very complementary. i thought what a compliment she was the one that saved now averted 1854. [laughter] >> may i interrupt? he also said gwendolyn adams is the mack truck disguised as a big powder puff. [laughter] >> we are running short of time the you have question cards if you have a question for any of us please fill those out and we will collect those to get through as many as we can. let's fast-forward 25 years to the upcoming 20th anniversary.

this institution began like the exhibit with a temporary visit because the longevity at that point was not assured. where are we now? how do that to a view see the museum and the contribution to understanding dallas and the kennedy assassination? >> we felt, it was going to last but we were very careful. there were repercussions and feelings of sensitivity even today. so in order to move ahead and plan the exhibit, that is what we called it the first three years. and later jeff left and was

the director and actually worked with the national museum. said now it is a verified museum but i know you thought it would last. >> go lot of the obstacles that we face you were talking about convincing a town that was totally traumatized to invest in something they can't see once we got it open it was largely fine but getting it open is to ask them to trust the unknown when there have been very many and much damage has been done to those individuals that real that when they went to other cities. anything to trigger a fearful reaction so then

they immediately started to talk about you will have the rifle, all these unsavory things and we just moved away from that and the board was very good to get the right tone. i looked at it as my job to get it open then knowing and praying it would be successful because barbara charles asked me who will cover the opening? i said the media it will be a breaking news story. what if they don't like it? i said that is easy then of us will ever work anywhere again. [laughter] >> the board was fabulous. >> one day in the midst of all of this eight year lady

was working on the alzheimer's gala and she wanted me to be the co-chairman and came down to the house is sheikh casually said we are friends of the kennedy family they invite us to all of their events and parties i said senator kennedy? she said yes. my daughter worked for him and she is here in the front row. i told her the scope of what we were trying to do and i said would you mind taking this information to senator kennedy? she agreed.

think of that. just think that if we had never been in contact it is too painful. the dnc to get our materials i would love for you to tell us that what happened is ted kennedy did read them a and said the it's the if you are involved it will be all right. from that point on they kept in touch with us and actually came down to meet all of us so we had the open conduit unit with the kennedy family. dnc, a stand-up. [applause]

after she visited with ted kennedy he asked her to go to the york and visit. steve smith. he had been in contact with the family. >> i will go through a few questions addressed to all three of us where were you when president kennedy was shot? i have to disqualify myself. i was not alive but my mother is your i was born several years after the assassination of you certainly remember where you were. briefly tell us where you were and how you found out. >> i was at home having a

meeting at my house of doctors' wives and all of a sudden his office overlooked the emergency room all the said and he appeared he could not tell us what happened because all the lines were tied up so he came id and said turn on the television. we did a and we stood around and he said president kennedy was shot in the head. i said is there a way he survived? so that is how i found out. >> i was leaving my last class at high-school. i was a senior and involved with the newspaper for the school and a feature editor and news editor a and ran

around with a transistor radio. we were walking down along hallway and is said kennedy has been shot in their realize later what he had heard was the first radio announcement. he yelled down the hall and that was it. everybody remembers what they we're doing but if you look in more depth you will find the edges are very gray >> here in dallas it touched so many lives in so many ways because the emergency trauma team were good friends of ours and also when he went back to make grounds he was on the elevator and they pushed a gurney on with him and it was a comatose man and it turned out to be cause wall.

the team that worked to say kennedy's life turned out also to be on call when oswald came in and our neighbor was a thoracic surgeon a and we had the extended member of the family that was an fbi agent in he interrogated oswald he would never ever say anything until he died just three years for words. of course, that story is not allowed but he basically said he is such a distinguished man he was a little punk and he did it.

>> stories like what you share today are very important with our history project to help to start that in the year the years swayback in the early years we have almost "assassination and commemoration" hundred oral histories recorded as we approach the 25th anniversary real looking for new stores if you have memories of the day of the assassination please contact us with our web site and i would like to ask all the people in the audience if you have done a or a history please the and so we can recognize you. [applause] that is wonderful i hope even more of you become an archive of the history rebuilding. another question, do you have regrets is anything you

wish you of it -- could have done differently in this creation of the museum? >> fate goodness it is done. [laughter] >> it was not that kind of thing. you either survivor you didn't. [laughter] i was gratified to see it was well-received. hindsight we needed to get an open. we knew it would be good content because excellent people were involved but it was a matter to get it open to the public so the fiers would be laid to rest. >> how do you feel about the museum today in 2013? >> it has become a real museum with great talent it

does all the things that are truly important, the education program committee of reach, a distance learning oral history, publications, gary mack is doing a fabulous job and i went to see the fort worth art show and our museum yesterday's and the film in there was done by the sixth floor and the quality it is the magnet i always dreamed it would become with the best collection of materials related to a global tragedy that exist on the face of the earth day and now it does the right thing with that material.

i think dallas should be very proud of those professionals that came through to really turn it into a nationally respected educational institutions. >> id please let us recognize you. >> that about does it for today we will be moving over to that table in a few moments to sign books and with all the wonderful founders here today i am sure they would be happy to add their signatures to the book you can add your own it six floor museum your book. thank you for being here today to be part of this special conversation about our history.

[applause] >> the lot can go wrong when you write a book i am somewhat erratic a lot can go wrong with what had to 10,000 words i have been shocked i guess if there has been criticism from inside mostly how dare he? how dare insider give away the secret hands -- handshake? how dare he talk about other insiders in a way that keeps with the code in washington? people keep asking me why are comfortable hither?

it is journalism in this is what we do. >> on your screen is a new book coming out this fall called "the romney family table" ann romney is the author when did you find time? >> godly even if i have written a cookbook before

because nobody would know that and is the mother and grandmother that was a fantastic booktv enormously blessed with all the boys they got married and i thought all these family traditions a and recipes will be lost because my boys are boys. so i made a cookbook of family favorites and gave it to the dodgers a lot because at midday had five copies this is obviously greatly expanded but the other amazing thing is my love of cooking and sharing and the family table was passed on to my sons and a duke cut so in the cookbook for my said josh and craig that love of

the food fortunately did the get passed down a little bit to my son's so this is how was started. after the campaign was over my son josh that loves to cook said you should put together a cookbook. but this is not like a normal cookbook because it has a lot of family traditions stories, written material about our life so i think it will be interesting for people that say we go to mitt romney or his family is able be surprised if we give a peak into life struggles, the fun of getting together a and there is a lot of stories. >> host: are you a good cook? >> i am actually in people will be surprised to know that i even made a little

cooking school out of my home. i do love to cook but this is a great picture and a great family story right here i would love to people to do about that is tradition. the left-hand side is george romney the greatest guy in the world, he brought the family together we had to be there on the fourth of july and homemade vanilla ice cream was part of the celebration he is turning it and those are my sons waiting for their taste, that spoonful before it goes to the freezer and on the of their side is a picture of my husband journey the homemade vanilla ice cream with the same recipe with our grandchildren. now