Scribble at Stewart has stuck with Steinhaus
Notes signed by Bush asked school to excuse absence of exec’s kids
Former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus says one of his fondest memories of President George H.W. Bush is from a visit Bush paid to the Hudson Valley more than 25 years ago.
Bush, who died this past Friday at age 94, arrived at Stewart Airport in Orange County on Jan. 5, 1993, two weeks before then end of his term, en route to his final visit to West Point as president. Steinhaus, a fellow Republican, made the trip across the river to greet Bush when Air Force One landed.
Steinhaus brought his wife, Susie, and their children, Julie, 14, and Matthew, 11, to the arrival event, and reporters became curious when Steinhaus asked Bush to sign two pieces of paper.
Turns out they were excuse notes for the children to miss a few hours of school that day. Steinhaus said his wife suggested giving Bush prewritten notes to sign,
and the president obliged.
The notes, written as if penned by the president, requested that each child be excused for missing classes “because he/she came to meet me at Stewart Airport.”
Bush signed each note with a large letter G and the word Bush.
“President Bush graciously consented [to sign the notes], and the story went, as we
would say today, ‘viral,’” Steinhaus said in a written statement this week. “... That memorable occasion was actually joked about on the Jay Leno show.”
Steinhaus, who was Dutchess County executive from 1992 to 2011, said he and his wife also met with Bush in Texas on Nov. 17, 2008, when the former president
gave him a national award for being an “exemplary local leader” by promoting and advocating for Dutchess’ “Comprehensive Cancer Control Initiative.”