John Beale, Post-Gazette President Bush waves to a fan as first lady Laura Bush greets children during yesterday's visit to Providence Family Support Center on the North Side. Click photo for larger image. Related story Volunteer receives president's thanks AUDIO Listen to some highlights from remarks by the President and first lady this afternoon in Pittsburgh: The President addresses the importance of community colleges. President Bush begins to introduce the first lady and speaks about reaching out to help at-risk children. The President finishes the introduction and links volunteerism should become the patriotism of the 21st century. Laura Bush talks about a new federal initiative to help children. The first lady says part of that program will be a White House summit to study issues affecting kids.

President Bush isn't used to being the opening act, but he cheerfully ceded top billing to first lady Laura Bush yesterday as the pair focused attention on volunteerism and tactics for steering young people to "the right choices" on issues such as drugs, sex and gang membership.

"I've listened to million of his speeches," Laura Bush said after the president introduced her on the North Side campus of Community College of Allegheny County. "Now he gets to listen to one of mine."

In the afternoon visit, their first to the city since Bush's re-election, the first family spotlighted an anti-gang initiative, under Laura Bush's leadership, that the president unveiled in his State of the Union message.

Before the appearance at CCAC, the Bushes surveyed one resource for young persons in a brief tour and photo opportunity at the Providence Family Support Center. There, they folded themselves into child-size chairs in a brightly decorated classroom as they chatted with kindergarten and grade school students who take part in the center's after-school program.

"Hi, I'm George," Bush said to one youngster.

"President George Walker Bush," the boy responded knowingly.

The Bushes sat on opposite sides of one low table chatting quietly with the students, who had been coloring maps of the United States. While the color choices for the different states varied, neither red nor blue seemed to predominate.

One boy presented Bush with a hand-colored banner reading, "Welcome to Pittsburgh President and First Lady."

"I appreciate it; great work," Bush said.

Between the two North Side appearances, the president met privately with Bishop Donald Wuerl, leader of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

"Gosh, I think I've been with the bishop maybe, four, five times," Bush said later. "Every time I'm with him, he talks about education."

	John Beale, Post-Gazette The president stepped back today to give his wife center stage. Click photo for larger image.

Deferring to his wife, Bush kept his remarks short, while flattering his host city with the nickname of his own coinage, "Knowledge Town."

The president focused on such uncontroversial topics as volunteerism and the value of education, leaving discussions of more contentious issues such as Social Security and the tax code to another day.

Laura Bush said her new role would seek to emphasize "the importance in every child's life of a loving, caring adult, whether that's a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a coach, a mentor or a pastor."

As part of the program, she said, the White House will host a summit meeting this fall to assess what programs and tactics are doing the best job of helping young people avoid risky behavior.

She said that the gathering will include the unveiling of "a new assessment tool that will allow communities across the country to identify the challenges that they face and the services that they already have that address these challenges and where their gaps are."

Those gaps, she said, might be addressed through government activity or community and faith-based groups, such as the program that she and the president had visited immediately before her remarks. Offering an example of how volunteer work dovetails with that approach, she pointed to one high school student in the audience.

"Albert Conicella is 15 years old and by all accounts, a great football player," she said. "His high school, Central Catholic, puts an emphasis on community involvement, so Albert has been spending time at [Providence] as a tutor and mentor to the younger boys in the after-school program. The boys at Providence have taken to Albert because he's young enough to be cool."

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Seth Peterman, 8, reaches out to shake the president's hand at Providence Family Support Center. Click photo for larger image.

The president's motorcade headed back toward the airport, little more than two hours after Air Force One had touched down. Among the handful of official greeters on the tarmac was state Rep. Mike Diven, R-Brookline, reaping an early dividend for his recent switch from the Democratic Party to the GOP so he could run for state Senate.

Traveling with the president on the flight from Washington, D.C. was U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who assured reporters that he was feeling great following his second chemotherapy treatment for cancer, so good, in fact, that he had played a game of squash over the weekend.

The joint appearance was a sales effort for the president's programs in combating gangs and youth problems. Despite the $150 million, three-year effort spotlighted yesterday as well as in recent appearances by Laura Bush in Detroit and Philadelphia, some congressional critics have argued that other Bush budget proposals would severely cut funding for other programs for troubled youth.

During its stop on Brighton Road, the presidential motorcade was parked across from another carefully prepared sales effort.

At the entrance of Eats and Sweets, across from the Providence Center, was a sign proclaiming:

"President Special:
Bush's Baked Beans
Texas Dog
& Drink
$4.95"

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Regulars at Eats N' Sweets, a restaurant on Brighton Road, have their cameras ready as they wait for the Bushes to arrive for their appearance at the Providence Family Support Center across the street. Click photo for larger image.