The first inkling came via an email from an alert neighbor who noticed all of the traffic signs near the intersection of NE 75th Street and 40th Avenue NE. Then came word of a few “production trucks.”
But speculation was further fueled by several Wedgwood Elementary second graders who came home from school and said one of their teachers had told them that President Obama would be stopping by Wedgwood at her neighbor’s house for a “back yard chat” on Thursday morning.
Speculation continued Wednesday night when several neighbors in the area said they had their suspicions that Obama would visit their neighborhood. And further speculation occurred when a local TV crew showed up at the area at 6:30 p.m. and began shooting footage of the typical Wedgwood street of homes along the 40th Avenue NE arterial.
Could it be? Obama is scheduled to speak at the University of Washington at 11 a.m. Thursday in a rally in support of U.S. Senator Patty Murray. Obama’s camp has said that he would have one of his back yard chats beforehand somewhere in Seattle and that it likely was to focus on the effects of the economic downturn on women. As of Wednesday night, they had not named a location.
If all of the clues come together as speculation has it, that would put Obama in the 7300 block of 40th Avenue NE tomorrow morning. Expect traffic delays getting to and from the area. It also appears that no parking will be allowed for several blocks near that area.
UPDATE: An alert reader writes in to point out that President Obama’s mother Stanley Dunham lived with her parents in Wedgwewood Estates (just around the corner from today’s back yard chat) in the 1950s and that she attended Eckstein Middle School. The family later moved to Mercer Island. More info at Wikipedia.
The exact back yard chat location is floating around but not confirmed so Wedgwood View is not going to publish it just yet. Let’s just say, though, that it does appear to be the 7300 block of 40th Avenue NE.
