by Kerry Marsala
august 19, 2004
The wave of america's Heart and Soul was felt out West this past week. President Bush, riding in with his white Stetson Cowboy Hat, made his stop here in arizona to an overwhelming crowd of 20,000 cheering supporters. The weeks leading up to the visit of any president can be intense and exhilarating. Most of the public hasn't a clue as to the preparation work for visiting government officials or dignitaries, nor did I until now.
Working for campaigns has become a passion of mine. Of course, I am, but one in a vast sea of millions within the grassroots establishment, but I believe it only takes one small pebble to initiate a ripple. This premise was the foundational core for our nation-- dedicated believers who had vision for something sacred, free, and good--working individually--together, at the grassroots level for change.
For those who desired to attend the Bush rally they had to give something of themselves, it was their time, in order to obtain passes. We obtained four passes--three were for my older kids and one was for myself. Whether my children are of voting age or not, I wanted them to experience for themselves what a rally stop was, and perhaps get a chance to see our President in person.
a few days later I received a phone call from the Republican Party Headquarters. They asked if I'd like to volunteer to help answer phones and funnel questions for the White House Press Coordinators. For me this was a great honor, but I certainly had no idea just how awed I was going to be.
Upon my arrival at the Royal Palms Resort, where the President was going to be staying during his visit, I was quickly impressed with the resort staff. Very cautious, but at the same time helpful and friendly-- they directed me where to go. Finding the room, from where I'd be working, was quite simple. Knocking on the door I walked into a room filled with young adults busily answering phones, faxes, setting up media time schedules, making dining arrangements, transportation confirmations, establishing clearance credentials and all of them were having a wonderful time working for the President's arrival.
Quickly the head White House Press Coordinator briefed me on my duties and I began to work alongside these incredible young people. My job was to help answer phones, field questions and set up the national and local press with the information they needed. During the brief times when the phones weren't ringing or faxes weren't coming in-- I began to ask each one of the young adults what their drive was in working for our President and why had they chosen to work so hard? all of them resoundingly gave their own answers; it was because they believed in our President and for what he stands for.
Most of these young adults were between 25 to 30 years old, they'd graduated with high honors from various colleges all over the United States and all had jumped at the opportunity to volunteer to work for this presidential campaign. Many of them had left lucrative jobs in the D.C. area to do this campaign work, but they didn’t mind--they felt the cause was bigger than their own pocketbooks and bank accounts.
as I was finishing up my duties for the day, I was given four VIP passes to attend the Bush Rally. I had felt such honor even being asked to help the White House Press Coordinators that the VIP passes was truly just icing on the cake. Driving away from the resort, that was to house our President within a few days, I felt a sense of pride and hope in our young people and in our country's future. For their enthusiasm and dedication I want to thank those young adults publicly.
Many times the media only delivers bad news…we seem to feast upon the "dirty laundry" of the day. But our media has missed great opportunities to share with the world the good news of young adults freely giving of themselves for causes in which they believe. Life has many unsung heroes, working diligently without praise or notice, but I wanted to let those of you who so tirelessly and lovingly worked for our President's arrival in Phoenix know--we thank you. Without you, none of our grassroots establishments would ever have a chance to take root and grow. There are so many young adults working behind the scenes, let us take the time each and everyday to recognize the good to be found behind every corner. No matter how small, each positive pebble thrown into life's waters is a part of a tremendous ripple to make our country great, and to continue the direction of our freedoms. Thank you to our youth, you are the hope of our tomorrow.
(Kerry L. Marsala writes for www.americonservative.com, www.azconservative.org Opinion Editorials; assistant Editor of the GOPUSa/arizona; Independent Newspapers and is a regular contributor to Sarah's Seed Woman's Journal; Focus Magazine and The Truth Magazine. During the 80s Ms. Marsala worked as a freelance photojournalist for The Rock Revue and Newsreel Magazine. Writing about cultural, social and political ideologies by using a bit of satire every now and again helps keep her grey cells stirring. Her philosophy remains that no matter the event, you can always find a bit of humor or the human element of hope somewhere amongst the cracks.)
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