The area residents met the president when he visited Youngstown.

The area residents met the president when he visited Youngstown.
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Cindy Sacco of Vienna received an invitation to be the guest of President Bush and first lady Laura Bush for a holiday reception and dinner at the White House, she thought it was a hoax.
However, her daughter Beth Haddle convinced her it was the real thing.
The story began last spring.
Sacco, a 65-year-old cancer survivor, was a participant in a May 26 forum on community health systems, moderated by the president, and held in the Spotlight Arena Theater at YSU's Bliss Hall.
Haddle said before the forum began, Sacco had a chance to speak to Bush back stage. "They had quite a good conversation -- she liked him. My mom also became quite a big Bush supporter because he has been so supportive of community health care systems."
Haddle said her mother wouldn't be alive today if she had not been diagnosed in a timely way at the Youngstown Community Health Center because she did not have health insurance.
About the health system
The Community Health system offers free treatment to the uninsured and undeserved. Haddle is site administrative director at the Youngstown Community Health Center.
Dr. Ronald Dwinnells, CEO of the Ohio Northeast Health Systems, which is the parent organization of the Youngstown Community Health Center as well as centers in Warren and Alliance, was also invited to the party.
Dwinnells, a Poland resident, also met President Bush at the Youngstown forum last spring. He and his wife Kathy attended the event.
Youngstown resident Haddle said that her mother, who doesn't like to fly and didn't think she could afford to take time away from her part-time job at the Youngstown Community Health Center, had to be cajoled into accepting the once-in-a-lifetime invitation. Haddle said she accompanied her mother to the White House.
Felt like Cinderella
They drove to Washington and said they were very excited to attend Thursday's event.
Sacco said of the event Thursday night: & quot;When I got up close to the president, he remembered me and said, 'Get up and stand with your old buddy George.' ... I feel like Cinderella. I was just floating. It was so representative of this great man."
In May, Sacco's grandson, 22-year-old old Mark Haddle, an army sergeant, was in the audience. She said the president remembered him and that her other grandson, 25-year-old Mike Haddle, is a sergeant in the Marine Corps.
Sacco said that Thursday night first lady Laura Bush said to thank both her grandsons for their service to their country.
Both Sacco and Haddle said they were impressed with how the White House was decorated. They said it was very festive, and Haddle said she enjoyed seeing photographs of past presidents and their families taken at Christmas.