Northridge Middle School fourth-grader Nick Sanford brought the house down Friday morning.

With a unique homemade paper costume that turned the 10-year-old into a square log cabin, he got a lot of attention and smiles from a small crowd gathered at the Heritage Center Friday morning.

"It feels kind of cool," Nick said of his costume. "But it's really hard to walk."

Fourth-graders dressing up as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd, and yes, a log cabin, were just one part of a celebration to kick off North Dakota's portion of the national Lincoln Bicentennial.

Loosely tied to Lincoln's Feb. 12, 2009, 200th birthday, the event runs for two years. It began with Friday's debut of a small exhibit at the Heritage Center that highlights Lincoln's influence on North Dakota. Its prime feature - the original Homestead Act Document signed by Lincoln on May 20, 1862 - will arrive at the Heritage Center on May 16 and be displayed there until Dec. 12.

It is the first time since 1979 that the document, which is kept by the National Archives, will be displayed.

Other parts of North Dakota's celebration aim to highlight Lincoln's actions that affected the West but are often overshadowed by Eastern events and the Civil War.

Lincoln's ties to North Dakota include his signing of the Homestead Act and the Northern Pacific Railroad Charter, which expedited North Dakota's settlement with free land from the former and a way to get here from the latter. Lincoln also appointed the first two governors of the Dakota Territory.

"North Dakota wants to do a fantastic job because it's amazing all the ties we have to President Lincoln," Gov. John Hoeven said at Friday's ceremony. "And we want to make it fun."

Despite these ties, major Lincoln sites in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana are the ones that are likely to generate tourism from their exhibits, said Rick Collin, who's chairing the Lincoln events for the Historical Society.

"We're not trying to pretend to be like them. That's not what our celebration is about," he said.

Rather, he said it's a good opportunity to teach the state's residents about Lincoln's life and especially about his role in developing the West.

In 2007, the Legislature appropriated $50,000 to help the state hold Lincoln events over the next two years.

State Sen. Tony Grindberg, a Fargo Republican who's leading a legislative panel that will plan the events, said most will be centered on Lincoln's actual birthday anniversary of Feb. 12, 2009. He said they will likely include impersonators, contests, and, of course, readings of the Gettysburg Address.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com)