Recently, a tale of two men (one with rural Nevada ties) came to my attention. The men attended Presidents Day events Feb. 19 at Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, the first president, in suburban Virginia.

The first was President George W. Bush. According to a report in the Feb. 20 Washington Post, Bush said he was there to pay tribute to "the first George W." He drew laughs from the crowd when he said he had visited Mount Vernon with his grandmother as "a little fellow from Midland, Texas." He made the trip to Mount Vernon aboard a helicopter, completing the visit in less than an hour, and used the event as an attempt to bolster his proposals for Iraq.

"Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life," he said. "And as we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world, we remember that the father of our country believed that the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone. He once wrote, 'My best wishes are irresistibly excited whensoever in any country I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom.' "

I am sure you will agree this is a typical political opportunity for presidential rhetoric. Incidentally, the newspaper story was accompanied by a lovely photo of the first couple linked closely in a stroll before beautiful Mount Vernon and its snow-covered lawns.

The second man was Jay Fields, a project server manager in the human resources department of the U.S. State Department, a contract employee, a self-described "Microsoft trainer when I can find such work" and son of Mary Fields of Tonopah.

He was selected by the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of the District of Columbia to place a wreath at Washington's tomb. He is the junior steward of East Gate Lodge in Takoma Park (a Washington suburb) and a new Master Mason.

It is because of his Masonic affiliation that Fields was selected to place the wreath at the tomb of the county's most prominent Freemason. But his response to the honor is in striking contrast to the perfunctory duties of our sitting president. Despite suffering from a broken wrist, he e-mailed the following comments about his experience:

"Healthier Brothers got to be Stewards. Others carried the banner. The wreath was not all that heavy.

"We put on aprons at the visitors' center gate. Had a bagpiped procession some distance down a path to the tomb. We read from an account of Washington's emphasis on Masonry in his own life.

"As is the tradition, children were asked questions about President Washington and were rewarded for their answers with new Washington dollar coins that had been released from the mint just the previous Tuesday.

"There were many people at Mount Vernon. Our procession drew a lot of attention. The area at the grave slopes downward and was not designed for crowds such as the president probably enjoyed at the pageantry display at the visitors' center."

And while I am sure the president hit the delete key regarding the day's activities as soon as he was on his helicopter, Fields has memories that will never be lost.

"I was struck by the notion of how American this was, that an ordinary person could come to participate as I did in such an event," Fields said.

"I had a hard time fighting back tears. Some of them were due to my sense of how much more I personally might have benefited by following in such a path as he chose, earlier in my own life. In another sense, I kept wondering how many of his generation might be watching us, in spirit, and what they might make of how we conduct ourselves.

"Later with the questions for the children I learned again that Washington had no children of his own except by adoption. By extension, he might consider all Americans who inherit the legacy that he left for us as his children just as we regard him as the father of our country.

"It felt incredibly humbling to be among those honoring him, knowing that like all who have checkered motives in their past, I benefit so greatly through no particular merit of my own, from what he was able to do.

"We did not see anything of the current president. There were pictures of him meeting the actor who played Washington in the next day's Post. I didn't feel bad for not meeting the current president. What would one more face in the crowd mean to him? Perhaps, had there been less snow and ice, his staff and protectors might have planned it differently."

Gazing on this scene from afar, I'm sure the first George W. was glad Jay was there.

Bill Roberts is a veteran journalist in Tonopah. His column appears twice monthly. Contact him at broberts@reviewjournal.com.