Hillary Clinton Visits The Reed Opera House

May 16, 2008 - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton created nonstop excitement in Salem recently when she made an unannounced stop at her campaign headquarters on the second floor of the historic Reed Opera House.

She was greeted by Building Owner Roger Yost and Reed Marketing Director Rebecca Maitland.  During a tour of the Reed Underground she stopped in at the Little Cannoli Bakery to purchase treats for her campaign volunteers and autographed the wall in the shop at the behest of bakery owner Timothy Goods.

The former First Lady ordered tea from Linnez Hitzeman in the Oregon Tea Garden Bistro, and greeted a surprised Matthew Illman from the Christine & Nolan European Hair Salon before ascending the stairs to the cheers of more than 50 volunteers.

She posed for photos with the campaign staff, delivered a cheerful pep talk, and actually called a couple of Marion County voters on the staff call list, as Photographers and network TV stations recorded the event for media worldwide.

A short time later the New York senator paused in the Reed’s Trinity Ballroom for an exclusive interview with Peter Wong of the Statesman Journal and called the chandeliered  Ballroom “one of the most beautiful settings” in which she had been interviewed during the marathon primary campaign.

Reporter Wong asked Senator Clinton if she was familiar with the Reed’s history. To which the presidential candidate responded:  “You mean about Susan B. Anthony speaking here?  Yes.  I find this all very exciting.”

She had earlier praised Yost, a former neighbor of the Rodham family in Park Ridge, IL, for restoring the Reed, which she called “an American treasure.”

Hundreds of spectators and Reed tenants gathered near the second floor offices of the Clinton campaign to shake the senator’s hand, pose for pictures, and share in the excitement of the moment.  Dozens more gathered near the Court Street alley where the Clinton motorcade parked during the stop between a morning speech in Junction City, OR, and an evening telecast in the KGW-TV studios in Portland.

After the motorcade left the alley on a 99-degree afternoon and the excitement receded, Yost smiled and said . . . “just another routine day at the Reed.”

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