Remembering when Bush visited Ottawa

Sept. 28, 1988, was a special day in Ottawa’s Washington Square.

Former President George H.W. Bush, who was vice president at the time, visited Ottawa for a rally on his Heartland presidential campaign.

Bush made stops in Bloomington, El Paso, Wenona and Minonk before arriving in Ottawa just after lunch hour, with thousands of people greeting him at the site where Abraham Lincoln appeared 130 years prior for the first Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

Washington Square was the largest rally on the Illinois trip, as Bush headed to a La Salle truck stop, then Mendota after Ottawa.

“If I ever had to be reinforced about the values of America, it happened today on the bus trip here,” Bush told the crowd, according to an article published Sept. 29, 1988, in The Daily Times.

Shortly after Bush’s death Friday, local residents shared their memories on social media of the day 30 years ago when the nation’s attention turned to Ottawa.

Many remember either getting the day off school or taking buses to the rally.

Brandy Young recalls being a fourth-grader at Grand Ridge and holding onto the newspaper article as a keepsake. Craig Peek said he watched from his teacher’s shoulders as a fifth-grader at Serena.

Other children climbed trees to get a better view of the stage where Bush spoke.

Pat Brown remembers vividly Bush wore a Western-style shirt with pearlized buttons and blue jeans.

Republican Gov. James Thompson appeared with Bush, as well as country singers Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gale. The Lima Lima Flight Team, headquarted in Naperville, was hired by the Bush campaign to make several passes over Ottawa.

The media following Bush described the tour as “all glitter without much substance.” Small towns were used as theater, national media members told The Daily Times. The media wasn’t given access to interview Bush.

Nevertheless, reporters said Bush was well received and had a kick with the tour, even leaning out the bus window in El Paso and yelling to people lining the streets, “Anyone have some grey Poupon?” — a reference to a popular commercial of the time.

In Ottawa, Bush told the crowd he believed every child should say the Pledge of Allegiance and “that there’s nothing wrong with prayers in school.”

“And I believe in family-controlled child care programs rather than having Washington, D.C., telling people of the ‘Heartland’ how to care for their children,” he said.

Bush said his popular phrase “read my lips, no new taxes,” calling to hold the line on new taxes.

The then-vice president noted a veterans group displaying POW-MIA flags and slogans in the park, saying he was proud to see veterans there.

“If I’m elected president, there won’t be a day go by that I’m not concerned about those who fight for our country,” he told them.

The veterans were there to specifically protest for certain issues, such as health care, following the closure of three Veterans Administration hospitals, among others.

Bush’s visit was met mostly with enthusiasm, as folks held up Bush-Quayle signs. Signs supporting his political opponent, Michael Dukakis, also were displayed throughout the park.

“It was so exciting to see everyone so patriotic,” Veronica Neubauer said then to The Daily Times. “Everything was beautiful.”

Dale Stockley, circuit clerk of La Salle County at the time, put Bush’s visit in perspective.

“The major benefit for Ottawa was that it brings the selection of the presidency to the people right in this area,” Stockley said then. “It shows the candidates are human and accessible.”

Following the Ottawa rally, Bush and his entourage of 250 people ate in shifts at the La Salle-Peru Union 76 Truck Stop, where the vice president shook hands, signed autographs and split a taco salad with Gov. Thompson.

Bush left a $50 tip, also accounting for several other meals, according to the Daily Times article. The truck stop’s manager, Mike Borio, told the newspaper two men stopped at the truck stop three days before the political stop in Ottawa and “checked the place out.” He got a call 15 minutes prior to the crew heading to the restaurant.

Bush was expected to stop at the Ottawa Inn for lunch, but went to the truck stop instead. Ottawa Mayor George Small said the president had selected three possible lunch destinations.

The vice president also toured the Del Monte plant in Mendota.

Bush defeated Dukakis in the Nov. 8 election to become the 41st president. Bush won in Illinois, gaining its 24 electoral votes, and marking the last time a Republican won in the state. Dukakis, however, was victorious in La Salle County, gaining less than 50 percent of the vote. In 1992, Bill Clinton would go on to defeat Bush both nationally and in Illinois.