By Tracie Mitchell
Staff Writer 

Remembering Pres. George H. W. Bush's visit to Worland

 

December 8, 2018



WORLAND – In 1988 the residents of Worland experienced an once-in-a-lifetime event that rarely, if ever occurs in rural Wyoming, a national figure taking the time to not only visit but to sit down and enjoy a meal alongside community members.

Then Vice President George H. W. Bush visited Worland on January 26, 1988, served a chili lunch at the Elks Club and spoke to attendees.

“The thing that impressed us was, he came to a small rural community,” Worland resident Fran Scranton said. “It is nice to say that this great president, who was very quiet, he was very caring and very loyal, came to a small town, such as Worland and Greybull and Cody and to a rural state such as Wyoming,” he added.

An article published in the Northern Wyoming Daily News on Jan. 27, 1988, the day after Bush’s visit, stated that Republican and Democrat alike arrived to see Bush. “Few people here can remember the last time someone holding such a high office came to the Big Horn Basin. There are tales of a presidential candidate, maybe FDR, maybe Truman, making a whistle stop in Thermopolis earlier in the century.

People wanted to make the most of this latest opportunity. People want something they can hold onto. They want something they can show future generations, something they can pass around while saying, ‘See, George Bush came to Worland,’” the article said.

Scranton stated, “That shows how the times were, Republicans and Democrats could sit down and enjoy a national figure in our town and be gratified that we were visited by a national figure such as Vice President Bush at that time.”

After arriving at the Worland Municipal Airport in Air Force Two, along with another plane carrying his limousine, Bush made his way to the Worland Elks Lodge to not only eat a chili lunch but to also serve the lunch to attendees, but not before the Secret Service made sure that everything was A-OK.

According to an article in the Northern Wyoming Daily News in 1988, Secret Service arrived at least a week before Bush arrived to prepare for the visit. Not only did the Secret Service begin working on safety measure they also inspected the kitchen of the Worland Elks Lodge several times. “A squadron of Secret Service agents descended upon Worland nearly a week ago to plan security arrangements with local law

enforcement officials to ensure the safety of the Republican presidential candidate.

Every possible scenario, from a bomb threat to a medical emergency, will have been rehearsed and planned for in advance – just like every trip taken by the nation’s second-ranked commander behind the president,” the article said.

Many people were waiting outside the Worland Elks Lodge, in the cold, almost an hour before the event was to occur, including the Ten Sleep senior class and local dignitaries. The oncoming arrival of Bush was signified by the arrival of the press. “The best clue to his presence is the arrival of the traveling press. The camera crews from NBC, CBS and ABC stampede toward the platform [where he was to speak] jostling for position like a pack of high-tech kindergarteners,” an article in the Northern Wyoming Daily News on Jan. 27 stated.

Scranton stated that by serving “really bad chili,” Bush showed he was just like everyone attending. “It was really bad chili, it was almost like tomato soup with a few beans in it. It was a typical, what you would say political staged event, when you have him serving people. He takes off his coat, puts on an apron and he’s handing out these bowls of chili as you went through the line. He didn’t come serve you at the table; you went through a serving line. But it was a typical, what I call, chicken noodle type of presentation. It’s a political presence that shows the he is a common man, which he was, a very insightful person, a very loyal person and it really fit him to do that type of thing,” Scranton said.

The chili, which was made by Chris Strauch and her staff, was something that Strauch had never made before because she was not a fan of chili. On top of that it was her first week as the luncheon cook for the Worland Elks Lodge. Strauch stated in an interview at that time that she used a “Deer Haven” chili recipe put together by a former cook of the lodge.

Scranton and his wife Diane found after they were seated that they were seated right beside Bush and his wife Barbara. “My wife’s favorite word is shit. But when she noticed after Bush finished serving people that all of a sudden Barbara and George started to come and sit down, she said, ‘Oh, shit’ and it reverberated in the room which lightened the moment,” Scranton said. “They reserved these two seats and we just happened to be sitting there. You have to realize that my wife is really shy and we were so new to the community and Worland, at that time we were cycling down from the oil booms of the 80s. It sort of sets the tone,” he added.

Bush’s wife Barbara, showed her love of children during the chili lunch allowing children to sit in her lap. Worland resident Alison Sheesley stated that her daughter, newly elected Washakie County School District No. 1 board member Sarah Lungren, spent some time in Barbara’s lap during the luncheon.

After staying about an hour, serving, eating and speaking to attendees, Bush headed to his next stop Greybull but not before stopping at Worland’s Pioneer Square to speak with a group of children. While there he was swarmed with press, taking advantage of a last chance for photographs.

George H.W. Bush, who was the 41st United States President, passed away Nov. 30 at the age of 94.

 
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