Despite overcast skies and unseasonably chilly weather, about 50 people lined up outside Seneca High School in Wattsburg two hours before a scheduled noon speech by Vice President Joe Biden in the gymnasium.
The crowd of students and other residents doubled to about 100 after Secret Service agents permitted the doors to be opened.
"We are honored to have Biden come to our little part of the country," said Darlene Todd, 41, a self-proclaimed "die-hard Democrat" from the town near Erie.
Todd brought her daughter Megan, a fifth-grader, and son Karo, who is heading into high school.
"The entire reason Biden is coming here is to show other rural areas like ours the importance of having broadband connection in small towns," said Todd.
Biden is in Western Pennsylvania today to discuss ways federal stimulus money can be used to expand broadband access to the Internet for rural areas that typically have poor connections.
The federal economic recovery act package includes $7.2 billion to expand broadband.
Seneca School Board President Joe Walko is thrilled about his district's moment in the spotlight. The Wattsburg area has had broadband for a little more than a year, he said.
"This is a really great day for the area. We get to show other rural areas the benefits of faster connections with the Internet," Walko said.
Todd said broadband access has opened a whole new world of education for her children.
"I do monitor everything they do," she emphasized.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native and former governor of Iowa, also is scheduled to speak.
Biden and Vilsack are scheduled to be in Pittsburgh this evening, where Biden will attend a fundraiser at The Rivers Club, Downtown, benefiting the Democratic National Committee and Vilsack planned to take in the Pirates game.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
