Dear Mr. President ...

Tahoe Daily Tribune

July 27, 1997
By Cory Fisher
Tribune Staff Writer

Ten-year-old Anna Lambdin wants to have a serious chat with President Clinton. "I've been wanting to talk to him about pollution, the trees and the lake," said the concerned Sierra House Elementary School student. "So I invited him to my house." Unfortunately, our nation's leader was a no-show.

But Lambdin should know that she's in good company. Although only in the basin for a matter of hours, the president received hundreds of South Shore invitations from businesses, service organizations, schools and individuals. And word on the street is that Clinton's staff did a pretty good job of responding to most of them.

"We sent Clinton an invitation our wedding at Fantasy Inn," said Sherri Smith, who is marrying Tom Nelson today. "They wrote back to us - it said, 'Sorry, the president can't come, but he wishes you the best luck in marriage.'"

If Clinton had accepted a few of his many invitations, he could have gorged himself at the Summit Restaurant at Harrah's Lake Tahoe under the watchful eye of Chef de Cuisine Elizabeth Gregory Lang. But he would've had to save room for strawberry pie at Marie Callender's Restaurant before heading out to a Tallac Association fund-raiser and a hug from Leo Buscaglia.

After spending a night at the home of Judy and Robert O'Grady on Tata Lane, "The Prez" could have then spent the day watching the "Come Up For Air" soccer tournament - but he would have spent a lot of time on the road.

"Our children are lacking field space to be involved in sports ... the sport fields we now utilize are from one end of town in California to the other in Nevada," wrote AYSO representative Margaret McKean to Clinton. "Please come visit our tournament. Please start at Whittell High School in Nevada and then drive across town to South Tahoe High School in California and then back to Kingsbury Middle School in Nevada and then back over to Al Tahoe School in California ..."

If he'd had yet more time, Clinton might have scored a handmade quilt from the Carson Valley Quilt Guild, lunch at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center and a trolley ride with driver Rex McQuillen.

"I wanted to talk to him about the wetlands," said McQuillen.

The Kiwanis Club of Lake Tahoe wanted to discuss forest health and eco-management. "It is vital to protect Lake Tahoe," wrote the club in their invitation. "We would hate to see 20 years of fire prevention efforts go up in smoke."

David Kelly, director of the Tahoe Area Coordinating Council for the Disabled, invited Clinton and Gore to discuss housing, employment, transportation and overall accessibility for disabled citizens and visitors to the South Shore.

Kingsbury Middle School students - who have adopted Burke Creek - were anxious to share their experiences as environmental stewards with the president. Included in their invitation was a student-drawn picture of Clinton walking down a red carpet to their creek.

George Whittell students and teachers sent a giant pastel drawing filled with signatures to the White House.

Among many others, official invitations were also sent by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, the City of South Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Community College.

Sure, the president's an extremely important and busy man. But hey, it's still always nice to be asked.