Secrecy over Chelsea Clinton’s wedding infuriates locals at Rhinebeck

NEW YORK - Locals at Rhinebeck, where Bill Clinton’s daughter Chelsea is set to wed Marc Mezvinsky, are annoyed at the secrecy surrounding the whole event.

The clandestine wedding of the former First Daughter- expected to cost upward of 3.3 million dollars-has even Mayor Jim Reardon fuming.

“No one has given us a straight answer. The whole town has been kept out of the loop,” the New York Daily News quoted an annoyed Reardon as saying.

Nobody is likely to say anything before the nuptials, where the A-list collection of 500 guests is rumoured to include Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand and Steven Spielberg.

It is being said that the ceremony is more secretive than a CIA operation.

Large tents with floor-to-ceiling windows were erected in the backyard overlooking the Hudson River at Astor Courts, the 50-acre, onetime home of John Jacob Astor.

Town Supervisor Tom Traudt, who doubles as a detective with the local sheriff’s department, was confounded by the presidential seal on wedding details.

“I understand the need to keep the details close to the event. But this is a little crazy,” he said.

At the Beekman Arms, a historic hotel expected to host many of the guests, employees were barred from even uttering the word “Clinton” - under threat of firing.

Bob Gioffi, 77, owner of the Sportsman barbershop, was bemused by all the subterfuge.

“This wedding is so secret that even the people who are supposed to know don’t know. You have a better chance of figuring out who shot JFK,” said Gioffi, who’s worked in the shop for 50 years. (ANI)