By Kevin Curry
When you are 9-years-old the last thing you want to do is get up really early and go to your father’s Kiwanis Club meeting. But my father insisted I go because U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield was speaking to the group. I’m glad he did.
That was the beginning of my interest in Sen. Hatfield whom I followed for the rest of his career. What really impresses me to this day was that he was willing to come to a 7 a.m. Kiwanis Club meeting in Coos Bay to meet his constituents. I had him autograph the program that morning.
