In May 1948, the Republican candidate for President, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, addressed an audience of some 2,000 at the Medford Armory.
Among other remarks he called the Communist Party a “lying group of worms,” and said that “never did any business need management so much” as did the administration of his opponent, President Harry Truman. A law-and-order candidate, Dewey supported the Cold War fight against the Soviet Union.
While in Medford, Dewey also promised regional Republican party leaders that if elected he would contribute toward sending the Medford High School band to the Portland Rose Festival. The band had only $1,032.25 in the bank and needed $2,500 to attend. Band director I.A. Mirick received the go-ahead to accept the invitation from the festival committee.
As it turned out, Dewey lost the election to Vice President Truman, who had become president after the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 12, 1945.
Despite Dewey’s loss, the high school band received enough public and commercial donations to pay its way and marched in the Rose Festival Parade.
Source: "Presidential Candidate Supports North Medford High School Band." Mail Tribune, 8 May 1948 [Medford, Ore.], p. 1.
