Update: Obama Cancels Garden City Appearance

President Barack Obama has canceled a Thursday fundraiser appearance at the Garden City Hotel to stay in Washington and address the Ebola crisis.

Attendees confirmed to Patch that they had received an email from event hosts saying the fundraiser had been postponed after the president’s cancelation.

A new fundraiser date was not announced.

After canceling stops in New Jersey and Connecticut Wednesday to meet with his Cabinet, the White House confirmed Obama would remain in Washington Thursday, according to Newsday.

The news of the president’s appearance prompted feverish preparations in the surrounding community.

Garden City Middle School canceled all after-school activities and athletics Thursday ahead of the visit.

In a letter to parents, Superintendent Robert Feirsen confirmed that all middle school students and staff would be ordered out of the building after dismissal and warned that street closures were possible in the area.

A revised plan has not yet been announced.

In Hempstead, students at the president’s namesake school, Barack Obama Elementary, were hoping to see the president in person. The school’s name was changed from Ludlum Elementary School after a vote following Obama’s election in 2008.

A White House scheduler informed the school that he would not be able to see them, according to the New York Post.

Photo: Garden City Hotel/Facebook

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