From Left, Isaac Romo, Sophie Sow, Leigha Kost, Katie Ellis and Lillian Romo hold up signs as they await the arrival of United States President Barack Obama Wednesday, July 15, 2015. (Kyle Phillips / The Norman (Okla.) Transcript)

DURANT, Okla. — Anna Sow and her family had been set up since 7 a.m. Wednesday. Despite temperatures nearing 100 degrees, the men, women and children sat out in their front yard in Durant, Oklahoma waiting to catch a glimpse of President Barack Obama, who wasn’t scheduled to arrive until after 5 p.m.

Obama was coming to town to speak about providing Internet access for poor areas. But except for a couple of other signs, the sleepy town of Durant showed no interest that the commander in chief was paying them a visit.

“It’s sad to say a lot of people are not that welcoming to him being here,” Sow said. “But even though that’s the case, not everybody in Durant feels like that. Oklahoma is not a bad place. But it’s sad to see there is a lot of that going on today.”

The last time a sitting president is known to have made a stop in Durant was 1905 when Teddy Roosevelt came through on a train. But the way the town of 16,000 responded to Obama coming, it was like they see a president every day.

Driving through the city there were only three business that had “Welcome to Durant” signs aimed at the president. One at the CVS pharmacy and another at Walgreens.

The third sign stood in front of a law office in which Vanessa Brown worked in billing. She said she was disappointed by the showing of the town she grew up in.

“The community itself is a good community,” Brown said. “That’s what’s unfortunate. It’s a friendly community. That’s why it’s a super bummer that this is what’s going to be shown on the national news.”

Judging by the way Bryan County voted in the past two presidential elections, it maybe shouldn’t have been a surprise with the way the townsfolk reacted. In 2008, Bryan County voted about 68 percent for John McCain and Sarah Palin, leaving Barack Obama and Joe Biden nearly 32 percent. In 2012, that margin worsened with Mitt Romney receiving about 72 percent versus Obama’s 28 percent.

Statewide, in 2008, McCain and Palin won Oklahoma with about 66 percent of the vote compared to Obama and Biden’s 34 percent. Obama and Biden fared a little worse in 2012 with Romney and Paul Ryan capturing nearly 67 percent of the vote to Obama and Biden’s 33 percent.

“It hurts me because this is history and many parents are keeping their kids away from this,” Katherine Kost said. “This never happens in a small town. We are like a speck on the map. We are not a big city at all and it’s just amazing that he’s here.”

While there were no large groups of people welcoming Obama, one particular group did make its presence known. Around 20 vehicles paraded through town with large Confederate flags flying from their vehicles. At one point they were posted up across the street from Durant High School before authorities made them move.

There were others who carried signs with the words Obama Go Home printed on them. One man was walking up and down the residential streets in front of supporters of the president yelling racial slurs.

“Early today we had 50 cars drive through here with the Confederate flag and they were yelling racial things,” Kost said. The kids were outside so we just took them inside and I had to call the police because they were down there congregating and stuff like that. I was like ‘this is ridiculous. It doesn’t matter what you feel. You shouldn’t do that in front of kids.”

Velma Criss came up from Dennison, Texas to see Obama. She was also not surprised by the welcome Obama received, but she was sad to see the lack of respect.

“Some of them are welcoming and glad to see history in Durant and some are not,” Criss said. “I think it’s wonderful. I’m 60 years old and I’ve never seen history before. 

This is part of history. I was asked if I was here because he was black. I said no, I am here because this is history. He is the first black president. But if George Bush would have came to Durant I would have been there to see him because he’s my president.”