Saturday evening I was out having a couple of drinks in dowtown Missoula, MT, with some friends of mine; we were having a going away party for one of them who has re-enlisted in the Marines.
After a couple of beers and a burger at the Missoula Club, known to the locals as Mo Club, infamously taglined by "Warm beer and Cold burgers", we had quite the surprise visitor.
There had been about 15 people in the bar all night, 10 of which were in our group, when a few men in black suites walked in with ear pieces. A couple of us joked, "those look like secret service guys... what dorks."
Of course, you can imagine my shock when suddenly, in walks the former President Bill Clinton!!! We all kind of looked at eachother and shared a few whispers:
"That dude looks like Bill Clinton.. haha".
"Is that Bill Clinton"?
"I think that's Bill Clinton"...
"You guys, Bill Clinton is here"!
He has been in Montana for the last couple of days campaigning, but no one expected this! We got some pictures, and chatted him up for a bit, but before long, the bar was so packed, you could hardly move! He stuck around for about two hours, had a couple of beers and a burger and headed back to his hotel. He was so friendly and happy to take pictures with everyone.
We live in a fairly small town, so you can imagine the excitment when anyone that is somewhat famous comes to hang out in a public place; let alone a former President.
Anyway, of course there are supporters and non-supporters, but regardless, it's pretty cool to meet a former President of the United States! For the curious, I've posted the article from our local newspaper below the picture. Enjoy :)
Mo Club gets surprise visit from Clinton
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
The Saturday night bar crowd at the Mo Club took a double take when a big white-haired man walked into the iconic watering hole around 9 p.m. surrounded by a posse of unusually serious men. All sorts of people frequent the infamous downtown Missoula bar, but never a president.
“That's Bill Clinton. That's really Bill Clinton,” went the murmurs, mushrooming as they hopscotched down the barstools. “Everyone was star-struck at first,” said Rob Schulte, who often is the one serving up drinks at the Mo Club, but on this night was on the other side of the bar enjoying the occasion with friends.
“He really went out of his way to meet everyone and say hello, and everyone was really happy that he did,” Schulte said. “It's not like he needed to be introduced. Everyone knew who he was.”
For a Saturday night, the crowd was fairly light and happy to be hanging with the former president, Schulte said. By all appearances, Clinton also seemed happy to be mixing it up with Missoula locals. He ordered a Mo burger and a beer, and ate it standing up in the back of the bar while talking with the enthusiastic patrons, many of whom pulled out their cell phones and asked to snap his photograph. Clinton was so accommodating, Schulte said, that he posed for a picture with all the Mo Club bartenders, and after all the meeting and greeting, the former president ordered the bar a round of Washington Red Apples - a concoction of schnapps, whiskey and cranberry juice. The shots went out to about 70 people, Schulte said.
Once word got out about the unusual party downtown, the fairly mellow crowd was joined by all their friends - who either got a text message or phone call about Clinton's visit. Within 30 minutes, the place was as packed as it is on a Grizzly game day, Schulte said. Clinton stayed for about two hours, and when he left - with a Mo Club T-shirt as a parting gift - everyone was even more star-struck.
“It was quite the experience. Everyone was like ‘holy cow,' ” Schulte said. “He was really cool and really went out of his way to talk with people.” “He didn't act like a big shot. He just seemed happy to be at the Mo Club,” he said. “It was definitely quite the experience.”
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