BUENA PARK : It’s Double Duty Now for Clinton

President William Jefferson Clinton was welcomed to Orange County in grand style Wednesday afternoon.

Buena Park Mayor Arthur C. Brown presented the 42nd President of the United States with the key to the city at a mock inauguration ceremony at the Movieland Wax Museum.

“He has the freedom to go anywhere he wants to,” proclaimed the mayor.

Then Mark Edwards, museum general manager, added, “But he has to stay in there for the next four years.”

And there is inside the museum’s Oval Office, where Clinton’s 6-foot-2 wax figure will replace former President George Bush’s likeness, which was ushered out.

Since the museum opened 30 years ago, it’s been tradition to place a life-size wax figure of the President in the replica of the White House’s Oval Office.

Clinton’s wax look-alike arrived at the museum in a convertible, escorted by two motorcycle police officers who had their sirens blaring. The figure was propped up in the passenger seat, with Brown and Edwards in the back seat waving miniature American flags for the attention-getting ride from City Hall to the museum on Beach Boulevard.

Taste of Hope, a group of musicians from Hope University, an Anaheim private college for the gifted mentally retarded, performed patriotic tunes that included “Hail to the Chief.” Boy Scouts from local Troop 403 gave a salute.

In the mock ceremony, Edwards administered the oath of office to Clinton.

The President was speechless and just stood there smiling in his dark blue suit, giving a “thumbs up” salute.

“He’s a little hoarse today,” Edwards told the small crowd.

With the help of a museum employee, Clinton nodded.

Then Bush, standing on a dolly nearby, was rolled off to the museum’s “clean room” for preservation--not meltdown--until he is shipped next week to a wax museum in San Francisco to join its display of past Presidents.

“He just may make a comeback,” Edwards said.

The handful of people who gathered for the unveiling were impressed with the statue, which museum owner Ron Fong admitted needed some last-minute touch-ups before being seen by the public.

“We just got him (Tuesday) and he looked too skinny,” Fong said. “So we padded him up--put on some extra beef.”

Fong also said the president’s hair was too straight, “especially in the front,” so he got out the curling iron.

Museum visitor Cyndi Lee, 36, of Thousand Oaks said Clinton looked “so lifelike.” But Lee, a Republican, added, “I think they should keep Bush.”

Buena Park resident Annette Hantzes, 24, came with camera in hand and said she joined the festivities because she couldn’t go to Washington to see the real thing.

However, Hantzes, who said she is a “working-class Democrat,” was a little disappointed that the President arrived without his saxophone. “It shows he’s human,” she said.

Fong said he plans to put a saxophone inside the Oval Office--he just hasn’t gotten one yet.