High school in rural Washington with shot at Obama graduation speech becomes talk of town

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

BRIDGEPORT, Wash. — This rural farm town tucked amid Washington’s apple and cherry orchards seems an unlikely stop for a U.S. president.

Yet Bridgeport High School is one of three national finalists for a commencement address by President Barack Obama, thanks to an on-time graduation rate that exceeds the national average and a college push that beats some of the ritziest public schools.

All 37 seniors will graduate next month. All are headed to college or to a technical school. And the possibility of a presidential visit has them and their whole town buzzing.

“I will have a heart attack if he comes,” Rosendo Rodriguez, 17, who plans to study to be an electrician, said with wide eyes and a grin.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/high_school_in_rural_washington_with_shot_at_obama_graduation_speech_becomes_talk_of_town/2011/05/06/AF96NX5F_singlePage.html

[PearliePoo2]

1. I've been to Bridgeport...very scenic spot

just on the East side of the rugged Cascade Mountains.
Had a tasty breakfast at a nice cafe and caught some trout in the river. (catch and release)
The smell! Love the smell of a summer morning at dawn....river waterfront mingled with fruit blossoms and a hint of sage!

[dkf]

2. Poverty is not destiny. Screw all those who insist it is so.

[Andy823]

3. I graduated there!

It's been a long time ago, and I only spent my senior year there, but this is really a big deal around here, I live in a near by town now! I sure hope they get him to come there it would be great!

[bobalew]

4. I Hung out at Brewster back in 1977-78

I still tell about the broken Neon Sign That read "Brew City Center" ,
instead "Brewster City Center", the Characters that lived there, & the Friends I made.
Bridgeport was only a few miles up the road, and a Lot of my Friends in town worked at the Dam.
It's the Home of Chief Joseph Dam, on the Columbia River.
I knocked apples & fixed Electronics to get back home to California on my motorcycle. Good Memories that.
Bobalew :toast:

[teabaghater]

6. I rode through in '97

on my bike and it was beginning to become "gangish" then. Lot of latino's hanging at that big gas station just before town, made me a little uneasy. I remember it because I saw a dead cougar in the road. Very seldom seen. Wonderful ride though.

[Andy823]

9. I was in Everett around that time

Came back to this side of the mountains around 79 and I am still here. I lived in Arizona until my dad retired from the Air Force and we ended up in Bridgeport for my last year of high school. Got drafted and came back, then went to the coast, then came back and have been in the Okanogan Valley someplace since then! I love the area and most of my family, and my wife's live around here. It's pretty red over here, but seems to be more liberals moving over from the coast every year. Maybe someday it will turn blue! :shrug:

[cilla4progress]

5. Wonderful PR - at last!

We local Dems (I live about 45 minutes from Bridgeport in rural, conservative eastern Washington, and I serve on our county Democratic party executive board) are amped up about this possibility! The prospect of Obama flying in on a helicopter (no nearby AF-1-capable airports) - or the Presidential motorcade - are beyond thrilling!

It's also a great relief to get good publicity for the Dems in this very red part of otherwise-liberal Washington state!

[Mz Pip]

7. I remember driving through eastern WA in '09

We stopped at a small motel to spend the night and there were these flyers on the counter that we did not notice until after we had registered. They were filled with all the conspiracy theory RW ObamaKenyanMuslimSocialistWe'reDoooommmed! bullshit.

If I'd seen them before we'd registered I would have tried to ignore the fact that we'd already driven 10 hours and there were no other motels in the area. I was really annoyed that we had given these idiots our business.

I hope Obama goes to eastern WA, not just for you and the other Dems, but to piss these Neanderthals off.

[Zorra]

8. I grew up northeast of Bridgeport in the OK. Hope the Prez speaks there!

:bounce:

[Andy823]

10. It's great country

I was born in Omak, but my dad was in the Air Force so we traveled a lot. When he retired we moved back to the area and ended up in Bridgeport. I have family from Tonasket all the way down the valley, and all over the state, so does my wife.