1/2/2007 - President Ford’s 1974 Visit to Disabled Students at Columbus Community Center Remembered

(Salt Lake City, UT)  In an official visit to Salt Lake City on November 3, 1974, President Gerald Ford added a 20-minute visit to Columbus Community Center after receiving a letter from four students who attended the center at the time. Columbus had been serving students with disabilities since 1968 and was recognized as one of two pre-eminent centers in country that provided adults with multiple and severe disabilities the chance to attend school, obtain job skills, and work for local businesses. Senator Jake Garn was the Salt Lake City mayor at the time, and he joined President Ford on the tour. 

Arden Lubeck, who is still with Columbus as Director of Community Employment, was a student intern at Columbus. He remembers center participants and staff felt an extreme sense of pride by having President Ford visit and recognize Columbus Community Center as one of the top innovative programs in the nation at that time. According to Lubeck, “I was just a student intern. I shook President Ford’s hand. Not too many people get to shake hands with a president. I was in awe.” Lubeck added, “We had a custodial training program then, and the students in the program made sure the center was ready for a President.” Secret Service spent two days prior to the visit inspecting the facility in preparation for the 20-minute visit. 

Donna Adams was one of the parents that founded Columbus, and she and her son Ronald were at the center for the event. According to Adams, “President Ford was such a good, caring man, and so down to earth. There was a Greeting Committee of parents and staff, and we had a picture from that day that hung in the center for many years.” Ronald, who is now 56, was the sixth student enrolled at Columbus, and he still attends the center. He remembers everyone saying hello to President Ford, and he noticed that even the post office was closed today in recognition of the funeral.

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