After long wait, an enthusiastic welcome for Obama

SELMA, Ala. — Elcanie Page grew up on a farm outside Selma, and coming and going into the city on the weekends was routine for his family. Saturday, he was at a corner on Franklin Street at 6:15 a.m., battling the cold temperatures and waiting for family.

"I don't want to watch (President Obama) on the news or see him in the papers," Page said. "I want to see him in person, with the whites of my eyes."

For the thousands of people such as Page who flooded into Selma on Saturday, getting the opportunity to see the president — even on Jumbotron with a slight delay in the video — required both patience to deal with waits of up to three hours and the willingness to endure chilly morning air and a burning afternoon sun.

But patience and will weren't lacking.

Juanita Cox, a retired teacher who got in a line that was already winding through several city blocks at 8 a.m., said she came to honor the victims of "Bloody Sunday."

"They made some great sacrifices on my behalf, and on all our behalves," she said. "The least I can do is be part of the remembrance."

The line moved in fits and starts. Spirits were generally high despite the waits. There were some occasional surges, most notably at 8:30 a.m. as the gates opened up. Family members stuck close to one another via human chain; others waved hands and phones to signal loved ones.

Among those waiting was Leroy Stover, who was hired as Birmingham's first African-American police officer in 1966 and retired 32 years later as deputy chief of the department. Stover's work on the police force wasn't easy. On his first day, fellow officers forced him to find a police car that was left in the field; Stover had to take a bus to go find the car. The bus driver, he said, was so furious over Stover's predicament that he drove his bus off his route to get Stover to the car. Later, Stover discovered that his partner had left Ku Klux Klan robes in the back seat of the cruiser.

Stover's father marched on Bloody Sunday, but fearing reprisals at work, "he didn't care to march after," Stover said.

Asked why he came to Selma on Saturday, Stover, 81, joked, "I may never see a 50th anniversary again."

There were also many people whose wait came after an already lengthy journey to Selma. A group of students from the youth ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina arrived in the city at 1 a.m. Saturday after a 7 1/2-hour trip. The students slept on the floor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Selma when they pulled in, then got up a few hours later to see Obama.

"Our kids are used to camping out on floors," said Deacon Glenda McDowell with the All Souls Episcopal Cathedral in Asheville, N.C.

MacDowell said the children, who read accounts of the march written by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., wanted to be part of history, and thought it was important to see the president honoring "those whose souls and bodies took abuse for change," though she added that she hoped to hear Obama address the need for further change in his remarks.

The president did call for strengthening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the major fruit of Bloody Sunday and the resultant Selma-to-Montgomery march.

The colder temperatures gave way to warmer ones in the afternoon. Those who made it into the secured areas found themselves in a rectangular area of about four city blocks, virtually open space except for carefully positioned barricades. Getting within view of the Edmund Pettus Bridge was cause for many people, such as Steven Jackson of Prattville, to snap pictures with their families.

Jackson, whose mother lives in Selma, said being at the event was a way of "thanking people for their hard work" securing civil rights.

The crowd cheered at 12:20 p.m. as a motorcade appeared on the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, though some in the crowd expressed disappointment when they heard it was former President George W. Bush.

"Hey, I've got deep respect for the man," said Portia Wynn of Decatur. Wynn said later she always voted "straight Democrat," but added that she respected Bush "for showing up, regardless of what anyone else on the right thought of it."

Obama's actual arrival at 1:07 p.m. was greeted with cheers. Even if some in the crowd grew restless during a 45-minute wait for the president and first lady to come on stage. But when he began, the crowd cheered him loudly throughout the ceremony.