JFK impersonator Lance Kendrick has waited years for this day

DALLAS–As the festivities surrounding the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy came to a close, 150 amateur thespians gathered here for their yearly re-enactment of the events of that fateful day in 1963.  In years past, the veteran crew of actors have had no trouble getting into character to chronicle the murder of Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, but this year the mood was less somber, and more celebratory.

“I had a little trouble keeping a straight face,” said Marily Cohen, a 32 year-old waitress from Garland who was playing the role of Jackie Kennedy for the fourth time, “I mean, fifty years!  At this point, I’m part of a half-century long tradition.  It’s hard to not get a little excited!”

Actor Lance Kendrick, who played the role of President Kennedy, admitted to being a bit nervous at the beginning, but said that a few shots of Irish Whiskey helped ease the tension among the players.

“It’s a milestone, definitely,” Kendrick slurred, his face covered with a thick cherry sauce to appear bloody, “I had a little trouble keeping still when I was supposed to be acting dead, but you’ve got to, as an actor, be able to rise up to meet the moment.  I think we did that today.  I’m just so proud of everyone involved.”

Shortly after 1pm CT, after Ron Guidry, who played a priest who administered last rites to Kennedy, the cast and crew all gathered and celebrated another successful re-enactment of the assassination, Kendrick spoke to the assembled actors and crowd.

“We should never forget,” Kendrick said, “A president had to die in order for us to be able to come together and celebrate this day.  So much of what John F. Kennedy accomplished as president has been lost to history, but his brutal murder will never be forgotten.  And it is so fitting that it happened in Texas, a state that has come to be known as a leader in executions, that the last sitting president to be assassinated was killed here.”