Apparently I was not at the same town meeting with Hillary as J. Brian Ewing who wrote an article in the
News-Record. Either that, or one of us can't count. I saw more than several hundred people waiting to see Sen. Clinton.
I arrived at Forsyth Technical Community College West Campus, 1300 Bolton Street, Winston-Salem, NC a little before 3:30, Thurs. March 27, 2008.
I joined a line of folks waiting to get into the gym. We waited several hours, as the line got longer. The line was not single file.
The doors opened and people started entering the front entrance. After over a thousand people crowded into the gym, the doors closed about 10 feet and about 30 people ahead of me. There were probably more people left outside than were let into the building. We were told that the fire marshall wouldn't let any more people into the building because the rated capacity was 1,000. Since I had reserved a spot, I was quite disappointed.
The event should have been held at a location that would accommodate a much larger crowd.
While waiting with many other people outside the building, a friend with whom I had traveled over from Greensboro got a telephone call. Apparently we had been waiting at the wrong door. We had been told to go through security and then show our IDs. We went to another door where we were met by a Secret Service man and after being scanned by a hand-held wand, allowed into the gym. At least 1,000 people, who had waited quite a while, were disappointed that they were not allowed into the gym.
The rally began shortly and the crowd was enthusiastic. After the event, there were still people waiting outside chanting Hillary, Hillary! Hillary! and hoping for a glimpse of their candidate.
The report of the SMALL CROWD at the YMCA in Downtown Greensboro for former President Bill Clinton makes me wonder if that is another mistake. Any daily newspaper should send a reporter to cover events who can count.
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I arrived at Forsyth Tech around 5:00. There were at least 100 people behind me in line, and based on a quick count, at least 600 in front of me that didn't get in. The state troopers I spoke with said that 1,200 would be let in. So all together, easily 2,000 people were there, and I would say that's conservative.
I also went to hear Pres. Clinton the next morning, and I would believe a number of 250-300, not counting the press.
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