Though he gained prominence as an actor in Hollywood and later as President of the United States, the people of Dixon, Illinois, remember Ronald Reagan as a hometown hero who saved the lives of 77 people while working as a lifeguard. The town is honoring Reagan’s 100th birthday this year, with a year-long celebration. The 40th President's hometown was never very far from his heart.
虽然他曾经是好莱坞影星，后来又成为美国总统，但是，在伊利诺伊州迪克森镇居民的眼里，罗纳德·里根就是家乡的一位英雄，因为里根当救生员时救过77个人的生命。今年，迪克森镇要举行长达一年的活动，纪念里根诞辰100周年。这位第40任美国总统始终和家乡心贴心。
Ninety-five-year-old Gertrude Childers almost didn’t make it past the age of 15. She was swimming in the Rock River near Dixon, Illinois, one warm summer day in 1931, when she failed to notice another swimmer barreling down the water slide. ".. and our timing was so perfect as he came down, I pushed out, and this man landed right on my neck and shoulders and of course it knocked me out," Childers said.
95岁的格特鲁德·柴德斯差一 点没有活过15岁。1931年夏季的一天，她在迪克森镇岩石河游泳。她没有注意到，另外一个游泳者从滑水道上迅速冲下来。柴德斯说：“他冲下来时，我往外推了一下，不高不低，他正好压在我的脖子和肩膀上，我当场晕了过去。”
She would have drowned right then and there, if it had not been for the lifeguard everyone called "Dutch," who pulled her limp body out of the water. "Everybody knew Dutch. He was just always there," Childers said.
柴德斯说，如果不是一位被称为“荷兰人”的救生员把她软扒扒的身体从水里拉上来，柴德斯很可能就淹死了。他说：“大家都认识‘荷兰人’，他总是在那里帮助别人。”
Gertrude was number 70 on the list of 77 people the locals say "Dutch" saved in his career as a lifeguard.
在“荷兰人”的救生员生涯中，他一共救了77个人的生命，柴德斯是第70个。
When "Dutch", known to the rest of the world as Ronald Reagan, went on to star in movies, and to lead the state of California and later the United States, his next-door neighbor in Dixon, Helen Lawton, had a hard time calling him "Governor," or "Mr. President." "Well he was just "Dutch" Reagan to us!," she said.
这位‘荷兰人’就是举世闻名的罗纳德·里根。“荷兰人”是他父母对他的昵称。里根先是当了影星，之后又成为加州州长和美国总统。但是，他在迪克森镇的邻居海伦·劳顿觉得，“州长”和“总统先生”，他都叫不出口，“对我们来说，他就是‘荷兰人’里根。”
Dixon, Illinois, population 16,000, is still in many ways the small Midwestern community where Ronald Reagan grew up. Only now, the town is known throughout the world.
迪克森镇有16,000人，在很多方面和罗纳德·里根成长时一样，仍然是中西部的一个小社区，不同的是这个小镇现现在已经闻名世界了。
"He’s been a good public relations arm for the city of Dixon," said Jim Burke, Dixon’s mayor, though on the opposite side of politics from Ronald Reagan. "I’m a Democrat... but a big Reagan supporter," he said.
吉姆·伯克是迪克森镇镇长，尽管他和里根来自不同的政治党派，但他说自己是里根坚定的支持者。伯克镇长说，里根一直是迪克森镇非常好的公关力量。
Reagan’s popularity has been of great benefit to Dixon, attracting tourists from around the world who want to explore the place that molded the character of a man who would become President. "He always kept his roots, and I think that is how he is celebrated here, as a guy who went on to great success but never lost his humility," Burke said.
里根受人爱戴，也给迪克森镇带来很多好处。世界各地的旅游者慕名而来，希望了解这个地方如何塑造了日后成为美国总统的人。伯克镇长说：“他从来都没有忘本。这里的人们就是这样纪念他的。他虽然在世界上取得了巨大的成功，但是从来没有丢失他的谦卑。”
That humility is on display in the modest home where Reagan spent much of his childhood. Completely renovated, it is an historic landmark, and the most popular tourist attraction in the region.
里根的谦卑可以从他童年大部分时间都生活在一个清贫的家中反映出来。如今，这所房子被翻修一新，成为这个地区最受欢迎的旅游景点。
"We have ranged from 15,000 to about 30,000 in the years that it has been open. When Mr. Reagan passed away that year, it was bumped up considerably," said Ann Lewis, the chairwoman of the Dixon Reagan Centennial Commission. She is expecting a record number of visitors to the city this year as Dixon, and the state of Illinois, celebrate Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday.
伯克镇长说：“这里开放的很多年里，每年有15,000到大约30,000游客。里根去世那年，游客陡然增加。”安·路易斯是迪克森镇里根百年诞辰委员会的主席。她预计，今年迪克森镇庆祝里根诞辰100周年之际，来观光的人会创记录。
That celebration began with much fanfare.
At the historic Dixon Theater, the place where Ronald Reagan watched the films that would inspire his career as an actor, musicians from around the country gathered to honor "Dutch."
里根曾经在历史悠久的迪克森镇剧院看过电影，这激发了他后来当演员的念头儿。如今，来自全美各地的音乐家聚集在这里纪念里根，歌颂他的乐观精神、道德情操以及他所信仰的一切。
"It’s more of an anthem to his optimism - his moral character… all those things he really believed in," said music professor David Holsinger. He says it was only fitting that Dixon hosted the debut of his original composition, titled "Reagan of Illinois."
音乐教授戴维·霍尔辛格说，由迪克森镇主持他的作品“伊利诺伊的里根”的首演，再合适不过了。
"It is something special when you walk into a place like this. 'Cause you can sense it in not only the people and the buildings and all the landmarks around, but you can… it’s kind of in the air," Holsinger said.
他说：“走进这样的地方感觉非常特殊，因为你可以感觉到，不只是这里的人和建筑，以及周围的历史古迹，还有整个的氛围。”
While the attention in Dixon now focuses larger-than-life statues and memorials to the nation's 40th President, organizers say the Reagan Centennial is meant to honor the essence of the man. A man who many in Dixon remember less as an icon of the big screen, or the President of the United States, endeavoring to end the Cold War, than as a fair-haired lifeguard who saved the lives of Gertrude Childers and 76 others - back when everyone called him "Dutch."
现在，迪克森镇的注意力都集中在为美国第40任总统建造巨型塑像和纪念碑上面。组织者表示，里根百年庆祝活动的目的是纪念他的精神实质。迪克森镇很多人更多把他看作是拯救了柴德斯和其他76个人生命的救生员，也就是那位受人爱戴的“荷兰人”，而不是舞台上的大明星，或努力结束冷战的美国总统。 |