STEVEN K. PAULSON Associated Press writer | Posted: Monday, January 15, 2007 12:00 am
GREELEY, Colo. - Wayne Eads said he waited in below zero temperatures to meet Gov. Bill Ritter on his whistle-stop inauguration train tour because Ritter offered a vision for Colorado's future.
"I like the optimism. I like the focus on children and our childrens' children," said Eads, a local school official and unaffiliated voter who said he voted for Ritter.
Julie Haworth, 68, a retired real estate saleswoman and a registered Democrat, said Ritter will find a way to do the things he promised, including building the economy around renewable energy, improving education and transportation and reducing the cost of health care.
"It's a matter of attitude," she said.
The inaugural train tour included stops in Greeley, Brighton, Denver and Colorado Springs before winding up in Pueblo with rallies and speeches.
Ritter told tents full of people along the way that he will deliver on his Colorado promise to build the economy around renewable energy and improve Colorado's business climate.
"What we're doing today makes a difference in their lives. What we're doing today makes a difference in their childrens' lives," he said at a rally in Greeley before the historic train, which has also carried President Bush and his family, Bob Hope and Clark Gable, rolled on towards Brighton.
Next week, Ritter plans to take a flying tour of the Western Slope. He said the inaugural tours are to demonstrate that these issues affect the entire state, not just the Front Range or urban areas.
In Brighton, Ritter was greeted by Dee Martindale, a Platteville farmer who was carrying a sign saying "No water, no farms, no food."
"I hear you," said Ritter, who promised her he would help farmers who have had their wells turned off on the northeastern plains because they can't afford to buy the water needed to replenish the South Platte River.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who took his son to see Ritter in Brighton, said Ritter is building a partnership with Coloradans now that he's won the election.
"Winning the campaign is only half the job. What he's doing is building public will to be a partner," Hickenlooper said.
The whistle-stop tour followed an inaugural dinner at two locations on Friday night.
Jeannie Ritter said the outpouring of support goes beyond support for her husband.
"It's people taking part in the process. People at all levels felt like they had participated … and felt they wanted to participate in this culminating event," she said.