One fitness club leader not only was at the Barack Obama rally last week at Grant Park in Chicago, but he got up close and personal with the president-elect in a VIP tent after Obama's acceptance speech.
Steve Schwartz, president and CEO of TCA Holdings (Midtown Athletic Clubs) was on hand for the historic event. Schwartz, a contributor to the Obama campaign, took a trolley to Grant Park from campaign headquarters at the Hyatt, then had dinner with other honored guests and VIPs at Grant Park. Rapper will.i.am, who later was featured in a hologram during a CNN interview, had dinner at a table next to Schwartz.
After his acceptance speech, Obama thanked campaign contributors in a special VIP tent, and Schwartz was right there to snap some photos, including the one shown here in this post.
"I was proud of Chicago and I was proud of our country," Schwartz says. "It was a great night."
Schwartz also says he spent a weekend with Obama two years ago, and that Michelle Obama and the Obama daughters play tennis at Midtown in Chicago every Sunday morning. The Obamas play in a separate building guarded by some 15 Secret Service agents, Schwartz says.