thedrifter
04-15-06, 06:41 AM
President plans valley visit
Bush to attend GOP fundraiser and to meet Marines next weekend
Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
April 15, 2006
Rancho Mirage is known as the "Playground of the Presidents," but President George W. Bush plans a working visit to the area next weekend - raising funds for his Republican Party and meeting with Marines and their families at Twentynine Palms.
Bush plans to attend a Republican National Committee fundraiser at the Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells the evening of April 22. He will then spend two nights in Rancho Mirage, leaving on April 24, as reported Friday on thedesertsun.com.
Indian Wells Mayor Ed Monarch learned of the president's plans to visit the city through The Desert Sun's inquiry Friday.
"We're certainly glad to welcome President Bush to our city," he said.
Bush can expect a warm reception in Indian Wells, Monarch said.
"We have a lot of committed and interested Republicans, and I think it's something that people here will welcome," he said. "They are big contributors so it's a natural to have a fundraiser here."
Jasmine Maher, a 31-year-old Cathedral City resident, appreciated the visit.
"I think that's great to be hands on, as far as the (Twentynine Palms Marines) go. It's neat that he's coming down here."
Developer and former Indian Wells mayor Dick Oliphant was excited at the news of the president's visit. Bush stopped in the valley while a candidate in 2000 - and held a $25,000 per-couple fundraiser at the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage - but this will be his first visit as president, Oliphant said.
"It's quite an honor to have the president of the United States come here," Oliphant said.
Congresswoman Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, will welcome the president upon his arrival to the Coachella Valley, her chief of staff, Frank Cullen, said.
It's unclear whether Bush will meet with former President Gerald Ford while in the valley. Penny Circle, Ford's chief of staff, said she learned of Bush's valley trip Friday morning and was unsure if Bush planned to visit Ford at his Rancho Mirage home.
Bush will spend the nights of April 22 and 23 in Rancho Mirage, but the exact location has not been announced. Past presidents have stayed at the Annenbergs' Sunnylands estate.
It was not announced who will accompany Bush on his trip.
According to the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce, the slogan "Playground of Presidents" referred to the presidents of corporations because so many had second homes in the city. But quite a few U.S. presidents have played and lived in the valley as well.
Ford has lived here since leaving the White House in 1977, following the tradition of former President Dwight Eisenhower, who lived in the valley during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Bill Clinton was the last sitting president to visit in 1995, when he golfed at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Meeting the Marines
Capt. Chad Walton, public affairs officer at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, said Marines there are as surprised as anyone else about the president's visit.
"Obviously it's not something that happens every day," he said.
In fact, no longtime Marines on the base could remember a presidential visit to Twentynine Palms, Walton said. The closest thing in recent history was an early 1990s visit by then-first lady Barbara Bush, wife of former President George H. W. Bush and the current President Bush's mother, he said.
Few Marines know yet about the president's upcoming visit, said Walton, who himself learned about the visit only Friday morning through the White House's release of Bush's upcoming itinerary. Many Marines have left the base for Easter weekend leave, he said.
"I think people will be looking forward to it once (news) gets around a little more," Walton said.
Bush's schedule calls for him to attend a morning church service at the base, to have lunch with Marine Corps and Navy families and then to attend a military training session.
"It's going to be a good opportunity for the base to show how important the Mojave Viper training we are doing is," Walton said.
Mojave Viper is the Marine Corps' name for the training exercises that are undertaken by Marines before deployment to Iraq, Walton said. It consists of urban terrain and a "small town" of multiple-story mock buildings, a pseudo-mosque and more than 250 role players "to make it as realistic as they can to represent Iraq," he said.
Training includes paint-pellet and some live-fire activity, Walton said.
"It trains Marines to recognize IEDs (improvised explosive devices), do security types of patrols and get assimilated as close to the real thing as you can without actually going to Iraq," he said.
"The importance of it is, every Marine unit that deploys to Iraq comes to Twentynine Palms to go through this."
Security at the Marine base will be heightened prior to and during the president's visit, Walton said. And Marines will work in the week ahead to spiff up the place, he said.
"I'm sure we're going to try to present our best face," he said. "Obviously, he's the commander in chief. It's an honor to have him come out and see all of the work we're doing out here."
Ellie
Bush to attend GOP fundraiser and to meet Marines next weekend
Keith Matheny
The Desert Sun
April 15, 2006
Rancho Mirage is known as the "Playground of the Presidents," but President George W. Bush plans a working visit to the area next weekend - raising funds for his Republican Party and meeting with Marines and their families at Twentynine Palms.
Bush plans to attend a Republican National Committee fundraiser at the Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells the evening of April 22. He will then spend two nights in Rancho Mirage, leaving on April 24, as reported Friday on thedesertsun.com.
Indian Wells Mayor Ed Monarch learned of the president's plans to visit the city through The Desert Sun's inquiry Friday.
"We're certainly glad to welcome President Bush to our city," he said.
Bush can expect a warm reception in Indian Wells, Monarch said.
"We have a lot of committed and interested Republicans, and I think it's something that people here will welcome," he said. "They are big contributors so it's a natural to have a fundraiser here."
Jasmine Maher, a 31-year-old Cathedral City resident, appreciated the visit.
"I think that's great to be hands on, as far as the (Twentynine Palms Marines) go. It's neat that he's coming down here."
Developer and former Indian Wells mayor Dick Oliphant was excited at the news of the president's visit. Bush stopped in the valley while a candidate in 2000 - and held a $25,000 per-couple fundraiser at the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage - but this will be his first visit as president, Oliphant said.
"It's quite an honor to have the president of the United States come here," Oliphant said.
Congresswoman Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, will welcome the president upon his arrival to the Coachella Valley, her chief of staff, Frank Cullen, said.
It's unclear whether Bush will meet with former President Gerald Ford while in the valley. Penny Circle, Ford's chief of staff, said she learned of Bush's valley trip Friday morning and was unsure if Bush planned to visit Ford at his Rancho Mirage home.
Bush will spend the nights of April 22 and 23 in Rancho Mirage, but the exact location has not been announced. Past presidents have stayed at the Annenbergs' Sunnylands estate.
It was not announced who will accompany Bush on his trip.
According to the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce, the slogan "Playground of Presidents" referred to the presidents of corporations because so many had second homes in the city. But quite a few U.S. presidents have played and lived in the valley as well.
Ford has lived here since leaving the White House in 1977, following the tradition of former President Dwight Eisenhower, who lived in the valley during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Bill Clinton was the last sitting president to visit in 1995, when he golfed at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Meeting the Marines
Capt. Chad Walton, public affairs officer at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, said Marines there are as surprised as anyone else about the president's visit.
"Obviously it's not something that happens every day," he said.
In fact, no longtime Marines on the base could remember a presidential visit to Twentynine Palms, Walton said. The closest thing in recent history was an early 1990s visit by then-first lady Barbara Bush, wife of former President George H. W. Bush and the current President Bush's mother, he said.
Few Marines know yet about the president's upcoming visit, said Walton, who himself learned about the visit only Friday morning through the White House's release of Bush's upcoming itinerary. Many Marines have left the base for Easter weekend leave, he said.
"I think people will be looking forward to it once (news) gets around a little more," Walton said.
Bush's schedule calls for him to attend a morning church service at the base, to have lunch with Marine Corps and Navy families and then to attend a military training session.
"It's going to be a good opportunity for the base to show how important the Mojave Viper training we are doing is," Walton said.
Mojave Viper is the Marine Corps' name for the training exercises that are undertaken by Marines before deployment to Iraq, Walton said. It consists of urban terrain and a "small town" of multiple-story mock buildings, a pseudo-mosque and more than 250 role players "to make it as realistic as they can to represent Iraq," he said.
Training includes paint-pellet and some live-fire activity, Walton said.
"It trains Marines to recognize IEDs (improvised explosive devices), do security types of patrols and get assimilated as close to the real thing as you can without actually going to Iraq," he said.
"The importance of it is, every Marine unit that deploys to Iraq comes to Twentynine Palms to go through this."
Security at the Marine base will be heightened prior to and during the president's visit, Walton said. And Marines will work in the week ahead to spiff up the place, he said.
"I'm sure we're going to try to present our best face," he said. "Obviously, he's the commander in chief. It's an honor to have him come out and see all of the work we're doing out here."
Ellie