Published: April 04, 2008 11:54 am         

Covering the president

I was privileged to cover the most historical event in the history of Morehead - the arrival of former President Bill Clinton.

As I arrived at the Morehead Conference Center early that morning, I was surprised to see five people waiting for Clinton to arrive. For a very democrat area, I was shocked that very few people were outside the conference center to secure their place in line.

I talked to the people who were waiting outside the conference center. Many spoke of the Clintons as if they were personal friends rather than public figures. Many seemed to worship them.

One lady was sitting on the sidewalk reading a book. Very early in the conversation with the woman, I found out she was a major fan of Bill Clinton. She said she was holding a place in line for her 14- year-old son who was also a fan of Clinton’s.

A man, who traveled two hours to come to the event, was sitting in his fold-up chair next to the revolving doors of the conference center. He told me he was a graduate of Morehead State and traveled here because he wanted to support Hillary in her efforts to run for President. He stated he helped to carry Bill Clinton in his first election. He stated his county had the largest amount of votes, which helped get Clinton into office. He was extremely proud of that.

Then I met a couple of girls from Olive Hill who were major fans of Clinton. Both talked as if they knew him all their lives and they wanted to show their support for Hillary.

When time drew closer to the former president’s arrival, 4,000 Clinton fans and supporters began to line up from the front of the conference center, down First Street, past the Rowan County Public Library and wrapped around to Pasquales and ended at the old Dixie Grill.

I was amazed at the level of security they had at the event. Of course, with Clinton being a former president, he had a secret service detail with him. To my surprise, security was very moderate.

When my Editor Denver Brown and Business Manager Chimila Hargett and I went to cover the event, a person representing the secret service stopped us and instructed us to come inside to drop our equipment off for a security sweep.

When we dropped off our equipment, we showed our photo identification cards and signed our names on a list that contained information about what company we represented and our email addresses. Then we were instructed to go back outside until the security check was finished.

It amazed me how they were so careful about securing media equipment. Later when they allowed regular citizens to come in for the rally they were not checked. Many came in carrying bottles of pop, popcorn, purses, cameras and camera bags. It shocked me to find out that there were no metal detectors in use during the event.

As I sat in the high riser with my newspaper colleagues and television and radio journalists, I felt the pandemonium in the room. The level of expectancy was extremely high. For me, covering this event was one of the highlights of the start of my career here at The Morehead News.

After the rally was over, I wormed my way to the front where Mr. Clinton was walking around shaking hands with fans, signing autographs and posing for pictures. As a journalist, I could not stand the idea of not having a closer picture of the former president. So after pushing and shoving my way through, I made it to the front.

By the time I got there, he already was halfway on the other side of the stage talking to some people. Still I pushed my little zoom button on my camera and got a couple close shots. For that, I was happy because it is not everyday one gets to take pictures of public figures as well known as the former president of the United States.

I must say I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to cover this event. My Dad, bless his soul, would be proud of me if he could see me now. He knew that writing and reporting was something I enjoyed.