Bridge to the 21st Century
This is one of my all-time favorite plaques, because of its personal connection. I grew up in Centralia/Chehalis, and when I was 8 years old, my parents - although, like most of the community, fairly staunch Republicans, then and to this day - nonetheless took us to see President Clinton when he stopped by as part of his re-election campaign. I have a small 110-film photo of the crowd that I took sitting on my father's shoulders, with a too-small-to-be-visible President Clinton off in the distance. The visit is one of my most vivid early memories. I remember the big, impressive campaign busses with Gore and Clinton's faces plastered on them, and the incredible crowd for our small town. It also amuses me that a fairly conservative small town has a small monolith in the middle of downtown dedicated to a Democratic president - and one with a sex scandal to boot! The plaque to me seems appropriately careful to avoid any endorsement or praise of the President himself, merely observing that it's notable that so many high-ranking officials were together in a small town.
The plaque reads as follows:
Bridge to the 21st Century
On September 19, 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton delivered a re-election campaign speech on this site. He was accompanied by Vice President Albert Gore, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Second Lady Tipper Gore. The joint appearance of the President and Vice President is significant in light of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and subsequent national security measures.
Dedicated on May 13, 2008
Centralia, Washington
Mayor Tim Browning
Submitted by Joel Bradshaw