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Former First Lady Barbara Bush's visit to Yakima Greenway

Barbara Feasey, the wife of former gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant, details the First Lady's visit.
Barbara Feasey, the wife of former gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant, details the First Lady's visit to the Yakima Greenway.

Barbara Feasey, the wife of former gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant, believes it was in the late 1980s that First Lady Barbara Bush visited the Yakima Greenway, a non-profit land trust where Feasey then worked as executive director.

“Special pictures, special memories; she was a special lady,” said Feasey who framed the photographs and still keeps them on her library bookshelf.

She recalls Mrs. Bush was trailed by national media who documented the trip to Washington and the Yakima Greenway, where they planted a tree together.

“We had a really good laugh about that,” recalled Feasey of all the media coverage. “We said ‘we are not dressed for planting this.’”

But what Feasey remembers most about that day, the First Lady’s reaction to the impact she had on Feasey’s own volunteer efforts.

“I remember how gracious she was and how genuinely delighted she was when she learned that her literacy efforts at the national level really inspired me to seek out a local ESL program and volunteer to teach people to read,” she said.

Literacy one of the key issues Mrs. Bush championed; a quote of hers that made an impression on Feasey reads:

“The American dream is about equal opportunity for everyone who works hard. If we don't give everyone the ability to simply read and write, then we're not giving everyone an equal chance to succeed.” It’s the same quote prominently displayed on the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy website.

“She knew she had a big platform that could be a force for good and also be a voice for those who might not otherwise have one,” said Scott McClellan of Seattle University who served as White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush.

McClellan recalls Mrs. Bush as a devoted mother and wife but also committed to helping others and raising awareness about the causes she cared about, including education, civil rights, homelessness and cancer research, having lost a child to leukemia.

“She lived life as the person that she was both in private and in public. I think her devotion her to family is something that is admirable but also her commitment to giving herself to others in ways that were small and big,” said McClellan.

RELATED: Extended interview with Scott McClellan

Her compassion felt and remembered by the many people she touched.

“There was a real authenticity to her interest and to her ability to ask questions and engage with people on a very human level and one to one level,” said Feasey.

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