Greensburg City Administrator Steve Hewitt confirmed this morning that the White House has finalized plans for President George W. Bush to give the keynote address at the Greensburg High School commencement the afternoon of Sunday, May 4.
Hewitt said White House officials had indicated during his visit to Washington for the President’s January 28 State of the Union Address that Bush was interested in a return visit to the tornado ravaged town.  Hewitt was then contacted a week later in regard to the visit possibly coinciding with graduation exercises.
Though graduation was originally slated for Saturday, May 10, Bush is committed to attending his daughter’s wedding that weekend.  When the White House suggested moving the commencement to another day next month, Hewitt brought USD 422 Superintendent Darin Hewitt into the loop, who in turn worked with his school board to move graduation back to the one-year anniversary of the killer storm.
Saying the school’s schedule was “extremely full” because of such events as State Forensics on May 3 and a slew of conflicts the third weekend of the month, Headrick indicated the first Sunday afternoon of May was about the only slot that could be found.  With 2008 being a leap year, it so happened graduation would now fall on the same date the community was demolished by nature’s wrath.
The 3 p.m. graduation on May 4 has now become the marquee event of an activity-filled weekend commemorating the one-year anniversary of the disaster as well as the community’s ongoing efforts to recover from it.
Headrick said commencement will be held in the school’s practice gymnasium in the center of the school temporary campus on the south side of town.  Uncertain yet of how many can eventually be seated in the facility for the event, Headrick was certain of what it will take to get in.
“You’ll have to have a ticket to get in,” he said.  “The White House has told us the priorities are for the graduates, their families, last year’s graduates and as many Greensburg residents as possible.  And, of course, there will be invited guests by the White House, and we don’t know how many that will be.”
Headrick said any Greensburg residents interested in attending the president’s commencement address should call the high school office (620 723 2164) and “get on the list.”  Stressing that while doing so makes one eligible to get a ticket to attend, it’s no guarantee.
“Obviously, if we get 1,200 people on that list and can seat only 800 we’re going to have to have some way of selecting which of the residents get in,” he said.  “So then we’d probably go to something like a lottery to be fair.”
Bush initially visited a debris-strewn Greensburg on May 9, just five days after the tornado struck, spending a little over three hours touring leveled businesses and residential areas, stopping often to console and embrace numbed survivors.  Hewitt indicated his return visit comes at a meaningful time.
 “This is a heck of an opportunity for these kids to have the acting president come for their graduation,” Hewitt said.  “I think his wanting to come for this speaks volumes to us doing things right in rebuilding.
 “It’s also an unforgettable honor for these kids who have gone through so much their senior year.”
Headrick echoed Hewitt’s thoughts, saying, “There’s not very many schools—well, no schools our size, really, that can expect the acting President of the United States to come and speak to them and shake their hand at their high school graduation.
 “It will make for an extremely special day for them, and something they’ll be able to look back on for years as very significant.
 “I’m just very grateful to the President for keeping us in his thoughts and making this a one-of-a-kind event.”