116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / News / Government & Politics / Campaigns & Elections
Former President Bill Clinton stops by NewBo City Market

Jan. 7, 2016 1:31 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS - They just came for lunch, but they got a whole lot more - the opportunity to meet former President Bill Clinton.
Before making a scheduled appearance at a town hall style meeting with Hillary Clinton supporters at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids Thursday, the former president strolled through NewBo City Market, chatting with the lunch hour crowd and sampling some of the food options.
'What a cool place,” he said about the market at the Czech museum audience.
'I've only seen you in wax,” Megan Abel, of Cedar Rapids, told Clinton after having her picture taken with him.
Toni Hamos of Cedar Rapids was the first person to greet Clinton when he walked into the market. The self-described 'Clinton fan from way back,” told Clinton she would vote for him again.
He asked her to support his wife, who was at the market Monday for a rally with about 500 supporters. Hamos assured him she would.
'I feel like I'm in seventh-grade at a rock concert,” she said later as she snapped pictures of her friends with Clinton.
Not everyone was as supportive.
Garrett Smith of Cedar Rapids, who was waiting for a sandwich at Greyhound Deli, said he was a fan of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders because of the Vermont senator's plans to get money out of politics and lower the costs of higher education.
'I'm not sure how I feel about Hillary,” he said. That didn't stop Smith from getting a picture with the former president.
Former President Bill Clinton views the selection of kolaches at Czech Deli and Bakery with owner Tom Slepicka while making an unscheduled stop at NewBo City Market before a campaign event for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in southwest Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Clinton tried a cherry kolache and ordered a blueberry for the road. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)