Representative Mary Gay Scanlon made it clear why Strath Haven was chosen as the kickoff location for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. During her brief introductory speech for the event, she remarked: “Delco elects presidents.”

Biden did his best to make that statement true at his campaign rally, held on Friday, March 8 at Strath Haven Middle School.

The event came the day after Biden delivered his State of The Union Address in Washington D.C, and he covered many of the same topics during his speech at tonight’s event.

These topics included women’s reproductive rights, taxes on wealthy Americans, improving the U.S. economy, decreasing crime rates, and medicare, specifically reducing the cost of insulin and protecting existing government medicare programs, such as Obamacare. Biden addressed each of these topics, all while bashing Republican candidate and 45th President, Donald Trump.

Biden also emphasized his belief in the country and its people, thanking the audience for their support during his presidency.

“I believe in America, I believe in you, the American people. You just have to remember who and how we are. We’re the United States of America,” Biden said, followed by chanting and cheers from the crowd.

Biden’s speech followed a brief introduction from U.S. Congresswoman, Mary Gay Scanlon, who encouraged audience members to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election, repeatedly emphasizing the “choice” between Trump and Biden, praising Biden and his accomplishments whilst disparaging Trump.

In a follow-up interview with Scanlon, she discussed how vital each individual vote is, encouraging Strath Haven students to vote when they are able to.

“Voting makes such a difference. It makes such a difference nationally and locally… I would strongly encourage Strath Haven students to register and be ready to vote as soon as they’re able to,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon even mentioned a little extra incentive to encourage eligible Strath Haven students to vote.

“There’s actually a prize with the governor’s office for the school that registers the most voters,” Scanlon said.

Earlier this week, the district sent out a cryptic email to parents regarding potential road closures and parking shifts that could impact after-school activities due to some undisclosed visitors.

Chatter was already circulating throughout the district; however, the suspicions were confirmed Thursday in an article by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Shortly after, Principal Greg Hilden sent an email to students notifying them of the cancellation of 5th block and all after-school activities. All Strath Haven faculty, staff, and students were asked to leave promptly at 2:05 p.m. in order to “ensure a smooth and secure environment for Friday, March 8th.”

Hilden said in the email he was unable to provide specific details regarding the event at the time.

Before the event, a group of demonstrators gathered to protest the Biden event and Biden’s handling of Gaza. The demonstrators hung posters in the surrounding area and would stay all the way through the event, for more than five hours.

According to Superintendent Wagner Marseille, the event was invitation-only.

“It was a closed invite. So the White House predicted a fully invitational [event],” Marseille said.

After the event, Marseille explained that the communication was conducted in conjunction with the Secret Service.

“We’ve worked very closely with White House reps,” Marseille said. “So all of the communication that went out really was a collaborative process … We work together to say ‘Hey, we had some visitors. We can’t tell you who they are … We may have some guests. We can’t tell you who they are.’ It was really cryptic, but we wanted to make sure we honored the White House.”

Despite the effort, it seems the experience was worth it for Marseille and the district.

“It was absolutely awesome,” Marseille said.

This story was originally published on Panther Press on March 8, 2024.