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Kearneyites
remember previous visits
By TAMMY
SKRDLANT
and TODD GOTTULA
Hub
Staff Writers
KEARNEY — Visits from such
politicians as President Harry Truman, President John F. Kennedy,
Robert Kennedy and other presidential and vice presidential
candidates have provided some Kearneyites with treasured
memories.
And when President Clinton visits
next week, area residents hope to add another presidential
memory.
Sue Morrissey remembers when Robert
Kennedy visited Kearney in May 1968. Even then, politicians drew
large crowds.
"He was absolutely charming," she
said. "Everyone was double parked downtown. Everybody from every
place was there."
Bobby Kennedy's entourage included a
"huge black man," Morrissey said. Nearby, a local man in a
wheelchair wanted to get up on the train. Kennedy's man picked up
the local man — wheelchair and all — and took him in to shake
Kennedy's hand.
Morrissey met a reporter who was on
the train with Kennedy. After Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, in
the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles. — just weeks after his Kearney
visit — the reporter called Morrissey to tell her the
news.
When the Rev. Jesse Jackson passed
through Kearney in the 1980s, Morrissey encountered the reporter
again.
"This tall, thin black man looked at
me and said, 'Could you be Mrs. Morrissey? Don't you remember me? I
was on the train with you with Bobby Kennedy.' "
When Sen. George McGovern visited
during his presidential campaign in 1972, Morrissey was part of the
motorcade. Every single window had a bodyguard of some type, each of
whom was well-armed.
Morrissey's picture was
published in
the Hub from the day President Jimmy Carter stopped at the airport
in June 1980 after he surveyed damage from the June 10 tornadoes in
Grand Island.
Morrissey has had a hand in campaigns
for Sens. Jim Exon and Bob Kerrey and also has worked on elections
in Illinois. She said she was among the hundreds of people from
Nebraska who wrote to invite Clinton to visit the area.
"It's really neat the things that
have happened," she said. "I hope I get clearance to go see him. I
am really excited."
DeWayne Wolf got to meet a young
Massachusetts senator who was invited to speak Oct. 14, 1959, at
Kearney State Teachers College. John F. Kennedy addressed students
on the subject of "The Challenge Facing Our Colleges."
Wolf was the Buffalo County
Democratic chairman. He was among the local officials who met
Kennedy at the airport and drove to the college. They parked and
walked across campus.
"I have a good memory of walking
side-by-side on the sidewalk with Sen. Kennedy," Wolf
said.
He also helped escort Kennedy back to
the airport after the speech.
"A few of us got on the airplane and
saw how the airplane was arranged," Wolf said. "After he was elected
(president in 1960), we were fortunate we got Christmas cards from
him with his family picture on the front."
Wolf still has the cards, he
said.
Having the future president in
Kearney was an exciting event, Wolf said.
"Everybody at that time was kind of
excited about him because he brought a new generation to public life
as president," Wolf said. "He had a certain class about him. He was
cultured. The students were impressed by having someone of his
stature be there."
When Clinton comes next week to visit
the only state he hasn't been to while in office, Wolf said the pros
and cons of his visit shouldn't matter.
"He is president, and he is entitled
to our respect," Wolf said.
The June 6, 1948, worship service at
First Baptist Church, which still stands at 322 W. 22nd St., was a
Sunday like any other — per presidential order.
Lois Lawhead was in the choir loft
and was able to look down onto the smiling face of President Harry S
Truman, who sat three rows from the back at First Baptist Church on
June 6, 1948.
"We were all pretty excited about it
of course," she said. "No president had ever come to Kearney before
that we knew of. He was a Baptist. It was quite a big
event."
Lawhead was in the choir and said she
remembers quite a bit about that day. She still has the church
bulletin and candid snapshots of Truman's arrival and
departure.
Truman, first lady Bess Truman and
daughter Margaret drew such a crowd that church members had to have
tickets to attend church that Sunday. Lawhead said her boyfriend and
eventual husband didn't get a ticket because he wasn't a church
member. On the other hand, the organist, who was not a member,
received tickets for her parents.
One local man, a Roman Catholic, was
rumored to have asked the pope permission to attend the Baptist
church to see the president. The pope wrote back and denied the
request "because he had too much respect for our Baptist church,"
Lawhead said.
First Baptist's pastor, the Rev.
Vernon Pearson, received less than 24-hours' notice of the
president's arrival, Lawhead said. Pearson received the official
notice at about midnight the Saturday before the visit. At that
time, everyone was notified that only the president and his party
were allowed in the vestibule.
When Truman was coming into the
church, an usher accidentally walked through the vestibule, Lawhead
said. One of the Secret Servicemen saw the usher and rushed past the
preacher so fast that the guard knocked off the pastor's boutonniere
and one of his coat buttons.
"The ushers were pretty uptight, with
the Secret Service running in and out," Lawhead said.
Her parents were in the congregation
and sat next to a presidential guard who had a big gun bulging out
of his pocket.
The president requested that there be
no change in the church's service, Lawhead said. Pearson gave the
regular sermon he had planned and didn't make any changes. Pearson
did introduce the president at the start of the service.
Truman didn't sing along with any of
the hymns, Lawhead said, but did join in the responses to the
scriptures.
When the offering was taken, Truman
contributed an autographed $5 bill, which is on display at Trails
and Rails Museum in Kearney.
The presidential family sat in the
third to the last pew of the church, meaning almost the entire
congregation was in front of him.
"People were too embarrassed to look
behind them at the president," Lawhead said. "(Afterward) they felt
bad that they sat in church with the president but were too prim and
proper to turn around and look at him."
A brass plaque was later put on the
pew where Truman sat. The plaque was removed when the building was
sold. Its location is unknown.
For Pearson, Truman's visit was
special on many levels. The visit occurred on the pastor's 35th
birthday. In addition, Pearson's wife was pregnant. If they had a
boy, they were going to name him Harry. Instead, three days later,
the Pearsons had a girl, who they named Margaret after the Trumans'
daughter.
Upon receiving word of the birth, the
president sent the Pearsons a large bouquet of flowers, Lawhead
said.
The following week, a sign in front
of the church read, "President Truman will not be here next Sunday,
but God will," Lawhead said.
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