Terry’s Worklog

Meeting the President

That would be cool wouldn’t it, but that’s not quite what happened.  Thanks to the historically close Democratic Primary, President Bill Clinton spent Friday and Saturday in Oregon, campaigning for his wife in small towns across Oregon.  As luck would have it, one of the towns that he stopped was Monmouth, Oregon, right in our own back yard so we decided to attend the event. 

It was actually pretty crazy.  The event took place in a tiny gym on the Western Oregon University campus.  My small family and about 1000 of our closes friends squeezed into the gym (it was cozy — and hot) to listen to the President talk about problems facing the country and how they relate to Oregon locally.  He gave a great speech, and afterwards, stuck around to shake hands and have pictures taken. 

Kenny and Nathan were fantastic.  In a crowded room, they sat and played for a little over an hour, and while Kenny may not remember it when he get older — I took him up to the front of the room after the speech was over and was able to get about two feet from the President.  He was a little to shy to stick his hand out for a handshake, so he just gave the President a wave, which was returned and then we had to step back and the crush of people started to make him feel a little bit claustrophobic.  Nathan and Alyce had the same experience — getting within an arms length but having to retreat back because the crush of people simply became a concern with Nathan around. 

Anyway, who knows when the next time a president, past or president, will come through our little area of Oregon again — but hopefully it will be a memory that our boys will remember.  At the very least, it will be something cool that Kenny can share at show and tell this week.

 

–TR

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