WWTBAM Bored

...I will have seen 4 Presidents in person (so far )!

The rally in Beaver, PA (my hometown) was great, although it got started very late -- I don't know if punctuality is Obama's strong suit! Around 5 PM (when I was leaving my house for the 7:30 rally), Obama, et al, were touring a plant across the river that makes bio-diesel (diesel fuel from chicken fat?!) And presumably they had to have some dinner & freshen up after that, so I can forgive the tardiness. (Makes me wonder where they eat, etc., on the campaign trail -- surely they can't go to a restaurant! Maybe some big supporter's house? Hmmmmmmm....)

Anyhow -- it was pretty much worth the wait once the bus with the candidates & their wives arrived, although a lot of what was said was a rehash of last night's convention speech. No matter; it was good stuff then & it was good stuff tonight.

I wasn't able to get a ticket to the stage area -- they were gone by late morning yesterday -- so my brother Jim, SIL Jan, & I were relegated to the overflow area (the park across the street.) Decent view with binoculars, which fortunately we all had. Jim & Jan's tenant, Jason, did manage to snag a ticket, & he was very close to the stage but didn't have a camera!

So, this is what we saw:


Obama is to the right side of the stage (viewer's right) -- he & Biden were in shirtsleeves; Senator Bob Casey was the only one in a suit jacket.

So now, I've seen Ford, Carter (twice), Clinton, & Obama. I could count Dick Cheney, I guess, since I was stopped in traffic to let his motorcade go by a few years ago -- but I only saw his car, not him -- & besides, I wasn't trying to see him -- I was trying to get home & the motorcade just happened to get in the way.

ETA: I just found out where they went to eat after the chicken-fat tour! Cool -- we used to go to the Windmill when we lived in Aliquippa

VAdame wrote:...I will have seen 4 Presidents in person (so far )!


So now, I've seen Ford, Carter (twice), Clinton, & Obama. I could count Dick Cheney, I guess, since I was stopped in traffic to let his motorcade go by a few years ago -- but I only saw his car, not him -- & besides, I wasn't trying to see him -- I was trying to get home & the motorcade just happened to get in the way.

I have seen two, Bush 41 and Bush 43, but only one was President when I saw him. George Bush threw out the first pitch at the Rangers home opener in 1991. Watching the Secret Service operate was pretty cool. I saw George W. Bush several times while he was working as the managing general partner of the Texas Rangers and once while he was governor.

Just out of curiosity, did any of your three Presidental sightings occur while they were in office?

Ford was President -- he visited West Aliquippa, where I was living at the time, in 1976. Carter, once at a rally during the campaign & once as Prez in maybe 1978. Clinton, a rally 4 days before the election, but not since. That time, I had my little Karen on my shoulders -- that's the same Karen who got married last week!

Time do fly, don't it?

I wanted Leah to come with me last night but she begged off (probably a good thing; she would have hated the wait!) But my oldest kid, Megan, has seen 2 presidents (Ford & Carter), and Karen has seen one. My middle kid Leah hasn't seen any (she was in kindergarten at the time of the Clinton visit.) The closest she came was meeting Jesse Jackson (who was a candidate at the time, 1987) when she was about 9 months old! He didn't kiss her but he did pat her hand while she was in her stroller.

I saw President Eisenhower at the Illinois State Fair. It must have been about 1954 (I think his heart attack was '55). He was smiling.

Barry Goldwater made a whistle stop in Galesburg in 1964 which I attended--seemed like a good idea at the time.

Jimmy Carter took a cruise up the Mississippi once. I think we saw him at Burlington, IA. Can't remember if he was president at the time.

I attended a Lincoln Day Dinner at Knox College when Ronald Reagan spoke. He was not yet president.

Saw Bill Clinton deliver commencement address at Knox College. He was out of office at the time.

Heard Barack Obama give the commencement address at Knox College. He had just been elected senator the previous November.

I'm not exactly Zeileg material...[/quote]

My family stayed in the same hotel as Reagan back in 1986-we were in LA for the Rose Bowl. We got back from Universal Studios just in time to see his helicopter leaving for Palm Springs (where he spent New Years')

I've heard Clinton twice. The first time was in August 1996 when he came here en route to the convention in Chicago. The rally was in a park and about 10.000 people showed up. My friends and I got stuck in the back with a bunch of school kids. Clinton was late (as usual) and the kids were complaining and saying "how many HOURS have we been here?" I couldn't SEE anything-but I could HEAR him-he's got a loud voice!

The second time was Memorial Day weekend 1997 when he addressed the West Point graduates. I was in the audience because a friend of mine was graduating. That's an impressive event to see if you ever get a chance!

VAdame wrote:...I will have seen 4 Presidents in person (so far )!

The rally in Beaver, PA (my hometown) was great, although it got started very late -- I don't know if punctuality is Obama's strong suit! Around 5 PM (when I was leaving my house for the 7:30 rally), Obama, et al, were touring a plant across the river that makes bio-diesel (diesel fuel from chicken fat?!) And presumably they had to have some dinner & freshen up after that, so I can forgive the tardiness. (Makes me wonder where they eat, etc., on the campaign trail -- surely they can't go to a restaurant! Maybe some big supporter's house? Hmmmmmmm....)

Anyhow -- it was pretty much worth the wait once the bus with the candidates & their wives arrived, although a lot of what was said was a rehash of last night's convention speech. No matter; it was good stuff then & it was good stuff tonight.

I wasn't able to get a ticket to the stage area -- they were gone by late morning yesterday -- so my brother Jim, SIL Jan, & I were relegated to the overflow area (the park across the street.) Decent view with binoculars, which fortunately we all had. Jim & Jan's tenant, Jason, did manage to snag a ticket, & he was very close to the stage but didn't have a camera!

So, this is what we saw:


Obama is to the right side of the stage (viewer's right) -- he & Biden were in shirtsleeves; Senator Bob Casey was the only one in a suit jacket.

So now, I've seen Ford, Carter (twice), Clinton, & Obama. I could count Dick Cheney, I guess, since I was stopped in traffic to let his motorcade go by a few years ago -- but I only saw his car, not him -- & besides, I wasn't trying to see him -- I was trying to get home & the motorcade just happened to get in the way.

ETA: I just found out where they went to eat after the chicken-fat tour! Cool -- we used to go to the Windmill when we lived in Aliquippa

If I squint real hard, I think I can just make out Barack!!!

Operating on VADame's assumption, I've got two and almost three. President Ford and partner Leonard Firestone owned several radio stations, including one near us, and they came through from time to time.

The third one, I didn't almost see Clinton, I did see her, but she's not the nominee this time. Clinton (Bill) didn't speak at Mile High Thursday night when I was there in person, and I wasn't over at the Pepsi Center when he did speak.

Next time!

He'll be another president I'm related to. I connect to his Payne ancestors.

Bob Juch wrote:He'll be another president I'm related to. I connect to his Payne ancestors.

My daughter Megan's mother-in-law's maiden name was Payne -- in fact, it's my grandson Eli's middle name. Maybe we're (sorta) related

VAdame wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:He'll be another president I'm related to. I connect to his Payne ancestors.

My daughter Megan's mother-in-law's maiden name was Payne -- in fact, it's my grandson Eli's middle name. Maybe we're (sorta) related

If she's from Virginia, almost certainly!

I have never seen any president and I am fine with that.

My only brush with presidential fame...a few days after Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Prize, must have been 2002, we took the kids to see a satirical show in Atlanta called "43 plays for 43 Presidents." About 10 minutes before showtime, a few secret service looking men came into the small theater (Dad's Garage) to check it out. Few minutes later in walks Jimmy and Rosalyn to enjoy the show, which they (and all of us) seemed to do, even when the actors got to 39. I think they toned it down a little since they were pretty kind. Cool way to see a president ...

We have been to 37 presidential sites, and in honor of PSM I will say that Nixon's in Yorba Linda was one of our favorites (not him, just the house and library, very interesting). Pierce house in NH our other fav.

Mel

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I have never seen any president and I am fine with that.

Carter, for me. Well if you never see one, you won't have any buyer's remorse?