Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe in front of Air Force 2 on September 9, 2020. Slupe greeted Vice President Mike Pence on the tarmac after the plane landed. Pence was in Western Pennsylvania for a series of tour stops in the area.

Vice President Mike Pence landed in Western Pennsylvania Wednesday morning, and a pair of local figures greeted him.

Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe and Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo watched as Pence descended the stairs leading from Air Force 2 at the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 171 Air Refueling Wing in Coraopolis. Col. Brian Lehew, commander of the wing, also joined the county residents.

Longo said he has met Pence in the past, but never in such an official capacity.

“To be waiting for him at the bottom of the stairwell, to greet and welcome him, was the honor of a lifetime,” Longo said.Slupe said he was initially planning to attend an event in Freedom, one of the stops in Pence's tour Wednesday, but his plans had changed. Then, he got a call inviting him to see the vice president land.“That was a no-brainer, of course,” Slupe said.<i>This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Thursday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.</i>

Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo in front of Air Force 2 on September 9, 2020. Slupe greeted Vice President Mike Pence on the tarmac after the plane landed. Pence was in Western Pennsylvania for a series of tour stops in the area.