While in Fulton for the Hancock Symposium, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spent the night at a local bed and breakfast.
Albright's choice of one-night lodging was at the Loganberry Inn near Westminster College's campus. Innkeepers Jeff Brundage and Monique Jensen said Westminster arranged Albright's stay at Loganberry as they had housed distinguished guests there in the past.
"People in town knew that she was coming (to speak at Westminster) but didn't know she was staying at the Loganberry. We felt, especially to make sure her privacy was kept, that we shouldn't tell anyone in town," Brundage said.
Brundage and Jensen have been in their roles for only a few months and said Albright was their first high-profile guest. Brundage described his and Jensen's responsibilities as innkeepers as protecting the guests' privacy, serving a three-course breakfast daily with full presentation and accommodating any additional lodging requests.
"None of our guests are more important than another but (having Albright as a guest) was definitely a unique situation for us," Brundage said.
Brundage said Albright requested her own breakfast menu due to a recent dental surgery. Her breakfast requests were poached eggs, wheat toast and peach jelly to avoid much chewing.
Albright was not accompanied by security, though she brought an assistant, the innkeepers said. Brundage said they do have a "super private room" available to high-profile guests that comes with a private entrance.
All of Loganberry's rooms are themed, and Albright decided on staying in the Margaret Thatcher room. Brundage described this room as being more "girly," and Jensen said it was Albright's choice because it had a bathtub.
"(Albright) just kept saying how 'quaint' and 'cozy' throughout her stay and she loved sitting in the rocking chairs in the front," Jensen said.
Brundage said the other guests at Loganberry were rather "frazzled" when they learned Albright was staying there too. They accommodated Albright with extra privacy measures such as giving her a private table for breakfast.
"We try to treat (our guests) all the same, and we want them to feel like they're our guests and we welcome them into our home. Other than maybe letting them having more privacy, I don't think we did too much different," Jensen said.
Loganberry features a wall of photographs of previous guests, including Bernie Sanders and Thatcher. While many of the previous notable guests posed in stoic photos, Albright elected to liven hers up with a smile while pointing at Loganberry's sign.
"We took a couple of photos with the same stoic look and then she said, 'Do you mind if I do something neat?'" Brundage said.