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« on: April 22, 2009, 07:47:40 AM »
Ol' Homer just happened to be in attendance the day that Ronald Reagan came to Hackensack. He landed by helicopter at Foschini Park and addressed a rally on a stage that was set up on State Street in front of the "bridge" by the police station. The large American flag that the seller was talking about was borrowed from the Port Authority and hung in front of the former UJB building at 210 Main Street. This was done for security purposes since the stage was in the line of sight from the windows at 210 Main.
I was only able to find one picture out of the dozens that I took that day. Three of the people on the stage with the Prez were John Inganamort, former chairman of the Bergen County Republican Party, Arthur Jones, former Republican freeholder and Marge Roukema former Republican congresswoman.
The Civic Center was decorated like a living room so that Mr. Reagan could rest for a while either before or after his speech.
On the way back to Foschini Park, the motorcade traveled on Union Street and "coincidentally" a group of residents from Wellington Hall were sitting outside and the President stopped to say hello to them.
I will look for the rest of my photos and get copies to the editor when I find them.