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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 21, 2007

Hanging out with the Bush clan

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Actor/singer Davis Gaines had an up-close-and-personal encounter with both Presidents Bush, thanks to a corporate show he once did in Orlando.

"I was the entertainer; H.W. (the first President Bush) was the speaker. I knew he was going to be there but was told he was going to leave before I'd perform. So when I was on stage, I was surprised to see him at the front table. He stayed, picked up the program (to check who the singer was, presumably) and then I got a note from the Secret Service that the president wanted to meet me. My parents were there, too, and there was picture-taking.

" 'I have something big on my mind,' Bush told me. 'My wife (Barbara) is having a big birthday coming up, and I'll talk to my boys and see if they can come up with something.' "

Sure enough, e-mail arrived from Kennebunkport, Maine, and Gaines was flown in to entertain 200 guests at a theater, followed by a dinner at a yacht club.

"I was invited the next day to go over to the house to have coffee and doughnuts, and I go to the compound and there are Secret Service at the gate, but there are no servants, just family. 'Good job last night,' Colin Powell told me. 'Coffee in the kitchen; go help yourself,' the president said.

"Hanging out in the dining room was George W. It was June, before he got elected in the fall, and they're all watching his TV commercials. So W asked me, 'Can you learn how to sing? Is it something you're born with?' I say you can learn how to sing, but you have to have some musicality. 'I don't know s--- about singing,' he said, 'but you have the best voice in America.' I asked, 'Is that a compliment, governor?' 'Powerful, powerful,' he said.

"I look around and all the out-of-town guests have left. W told me, 'Stay for lunch.' 'Are you kidding me?' I asked. 'If you have to pick a day to eat, this is the day. We're having tacos,' he said. It's his favorite lunch. 'Wow, sounds good — if you insist, but you should probably ask your mom.' 'You're right. ... Wait right here, I'll be back.' He returned, 'You're in.' "

The senior Bush had a $5,000 check for the performance the night before, and Gaines told him the honor was his.

"(But) if you're going to give, can you write another check to Florida State (University), to put my scholarship (fund) over the edge? And if you don't mind, I want to keep the (original) check.' I still have it."

A short time later, a FedEx delivery arrived with a note from H.W.: "Doesn't seem right for you, doing it for nothing." A wristwatch is enclosed. It's the one Gaines wears today.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.