John Williams has been working on getting Andrew Card as a speaker for nearly two years.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

HEBRON – Don’t expect him to be stumping for the re-election of his boss, President George W. Bush.

It’s more likely that Andrew H. Card Jr., Bush’s chief of staff, will be more informal when talking to those attending the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce banquet Jan. 29 at Hebron Academy.

After all, Card has a camp on Tripp Lake in Poland, and has connections to the Oxford Hills area, said John Williams, the chamber’s executive director. When he’s in town, he and his family shop at local stores and attend local churches. Over a Christmas vacation they were seen over at the snow-tubing park in Oxford, Williams said.

“He’ll be talking about what it’s like to be the chief of staff of the United States,” Williams said.

Williams has been working on getting Card, a native of Holbrook, Mass., as a speaker at the chamber’s annual dinner and awards banquet for nearly two years. Initially, he was unsuccessful, but results seemed promising in calls this fall to the White House.

“With everything going on, I wasn’t sure he’d be able to come,” Williams said. The confirmation didn’t come until New Year’s Eve.

That left Williams and the chamber staff scrambling for a larger space to hold the dinner. Hebron Academy “has been great,” he said, in providing accommodations for 315 chamber members inside the private school’s Sargent Gymnasium.

At $30 a plate, “we’re almost sold out,” Williams said.

Card, who will have Secret Service protection, will meet briefly with some Hebron Academy students prior to the 5 p.m. social hour, which will be followed by the dinner. Card will speak, with students listening from the balcony, at 7 p.m.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the Oxford Hills to one of the people who has his finger, literally, on the pulse of our entire nation and the world,” Williams said.

Card was appointed chief of staff by Bush in November 2000. Prior to that Card was vice president of government relations for General Motors Corp.

He also served under the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush’s father, George Bush Sr.

The Oxford Hills chamber has a track record for attracting high-profile people to serve as the keynote speaker at the annual dinner. Among others are U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, former Gov. Angus King, the late Seeds of Peace Camp founder John Wallach and former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Card’s speech will be followed by presentation of the Community Service Award to Andrea Burns and Myron Pierce, and the Employee of the Year award to Philip Waterhouse of Maine Machine Products.

Only a few seats remain for the event. Call the chamber at 743-2281 for tickets.