The Lumberjack

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Community

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller Former President Bill Clinton spoke heavily on health care and immigration during his hour-long speech.

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller Clinton speaks to a packed house at Redwood Acres on Jan. 16.

Media Credit: Rose E. Dana Jeff Hinton, a Humboldt State engineering student, stands on his tip-toes to watch the speech through the window slats of the Home Arts building at Redwood Acres.

Media Credit: A. Dominic Efferson Former President Bill Clinton after the rally on Jan. 16.

Carol Geraghty left her wheelchair at home when she went to see former President Clinton speak in Eureka on Jan. 16.

Geraghty, 55, arrived at 2:30 p.m. with her husband Richard on her left arm and her cane strapped to her right. She used her cane instead of her wheelchair that day to leave room for more people inside the small 400-person capacity venue at the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds. Geraghty said it would be her only chance to see a former president of the United States in her lifetime. She didn't get to see him.

She stood in the cold for almost four hours. At 6:25, a few minutes before Clinton's scheduled speech, Geraghty called it quits and headed home. It took her two days to recover from her wait in line.

"Do you know what it's like to stand out here in the cold with this stupid crutch instead of comfortable in my wheel chair?" Geraghty said. "It's hard."

Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, came to Eureka on Jan. 16 to campaign for his wife, New York senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Clinton's appearance marked the first time a president visited Humboldt County in over 40 years.

An estimated 1000 to 2000 people showed up to see Clinton. People started to line up at noon on Wednesday. As the sun started to set, the line to see Clinton stretched from the Home Arts building, across the parking lot and down a hill to the tree line where it elbowed left. It continued through an R.V. park, passed the bathrooms and then some. As the line grew longer, it grew fatter as well. A volunteer who counted people in line earlier told Geraghty that 273 people were in front of her. By night fall, that number soared to over 400.

Milton Boyd, chair of the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee and the organization responsible for President Clinton's appearance, said the event went well. He had to find 25 to 30 volunteers on short notice. He found two dozen. The volunteers set up the venue with chairs. Boyd said they manned the doors and controlled the crowd the best they could.

"We were not in a position to put up Disneyland-style apparatus," he said.

That meant that people like Geraghty were at a disadvantage. Although services for the disabled and elderly existed, few people knew those services were there. Boyd said that volunteers set up a special services table at the North entrance to the building. The line started at the opposite entrance. Those who sought assistance from volunteers received it. But without signs to tell people those services were there, people like Geraghty hopped in line with everyone else.

At first, Geraghty said that the people in line were nice and respectful. The line resembled a casual gathering. It had a picnic-like atmosphere. People brought blankets and food. Karl Johnson and Jim Vanklompen, both seniors at Humboldt State University showed up at 12:30 that day. They spread a blanket on the asphalt early to claim a spot near the front of the line. They sat in chairs opposite each other with a third chair between them. It had a stack of cards on it.

Vanklompen said it's strange that he hasn't met a president before. "My personal belief is that this country is too big," he said.

Johnson agreed. Both said that former President Clinton's appearance in Eureka might be their only chance to meet a person of such importance.

They might get another chance. Geraghty says she won't.

She graduated from Humboldt State in 2003 with two degrees. She became disabled her last year there and started to use a cane to get around. Doctors are unable to diagnose her condition. She faints without warning. She also has heart problems and diabetes. She said she could die any day. When she goes to public functions, she uses her wheelchair.

Boyd said he walked the line that afternoon and talked to two disabled people and directed them to the special services table. He's sure other volunteers did the same. They missed quite a few people though.

Before the sun went down, Geraghty counted five people in line in wheelchairs. They didn't make it to the special services table.

At 5:30 when volunteers started to let people into the Home Arts building, the fun and cordial atmosphere in the line shifted. People at the back of the line left their places and rushed to the front. Many of them ran.

Geraghty left the line too. She went to the front and tried to talk to the volunteers. She told them that she is disabled. She pointed out that hundreds of people cut in front of her, evident by the huge crowd piled against the entrance to the Home Arts building. Not one of the volunteers told her about the special services table. But they continued to usher people who showed up after her inside.

At last Geraghty gave up. She squeezed out of the crowd and walked back up the line of people with her husband. Before she walked out the gates, she handed someone in line the question she wanted to ask President Clinton. "Will you please ask him this?" she said.

He said he would.

Written on a recipe card with a glass of lemonade at the bottom of it and cut up lemon's around it, her question started like this: "Welcome to the magnificent redwood country."

Geraghty limped out of the fairgrounds onto the sidewalk and disappeared into the dark.

When the flow of people inside slowed to a trickle, shouts started to cut the cold air as people tried to force their way to the front.

"They're cutting in line," someone said.

"Stop pushing," a volunteer yelled.

"Move back," a guy in a suit shouted, "make room."

When the main room filled up, volunteers started to seat people into a smaller room. It is enclosed in glass and has two doors that open into the main room where Clinton would be. Those inside crowded in front of the doors and stood on their toes to get a good look at the podium.

Behind them, a wall of people had their faces and hands pressed against the windows. More people stood behind them. Some of them pounded on the glass and motioned for the people inside to sit down so they could see the former president.

They didn't.

At the far end of the room, volunteers let a few more people file into the main room.

An angry shout flew at them. "Hey, why do they get to go in?"

"Don't worry about it," someone said to the man, "he probably won't show."

Then, the choir stopped as Clinton walked inside. The crowd in the main room cheered.

"He actually showed up," someone said.

"He looks great," a woman added.

Clinton started his speech.

Outside a woman in a wheelchair wheeled onto the dew covered grass. She stopped in front of the PA system. Bundled up in a large jacket she sat there silent as President Clinton's voice boomed from the speakers. She stared at a brown stucco wall. On the other side of it Clinton stood. She couldn't see him.

Geraghty made it home in time to watch president Clinton on T.V. She felt angry as she watched his speech. The people who cut in front of her did more than just cut. They stole a moment from her that can't be replaced. "I won't be around to see another president," she said.

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