Today was the first day of the Iowa State Fair. I had intended to participate in the early morning event (but slept in instead) to break the record for the most corn-dogs eaten by the most people at the same time in the same place. Sounds like it was a rip-roaring success, with over 15,000 people showing up, only 10,000 of which were able to enter the Grand Stand, and I’m not sure, but I think only about 8,400 corn-dogs were available. We listened to the actual “Chomp!” on the radio, and it sounded like a lot of fun!
All 15,000 or so were admiteed to the fair for free. By late this afternoon, I was still meeting people who had been there since the beginning of the day. I spoke to a co-worker who had actually gotten a corn dog, who said when they handed it to her it was hot, but by the time they actually were ready to eat them, they had gotten kind of cold.
I arrived at the fair grounds to find the parking lots full, and parked instead on someone’s lawn for a dollar less than the fair grounds lot… and when I left it was much easier to get out as well! I told the young lady collecting money for the parking that I would have gladly paid $20. :)
So, I worked at the Republican Party of Iowa booth at the Varied Industries Building. It was a great pleasure to meet some many people from around Iowa! And a number of people shared some very strong opinions about the Presidential Election… although I had a couple of people who were still not willing to vote for McCain (nor Obama, by the way) most were extremely enthusiastic about getting McCain this fall.
It was a real pleasure to meet incoming Republican National Committee Woman Kim Lehman’s father, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey [1]‘s parents, and US House District 3 Representative Steve King [2]‘s sister-in-law. I had a nice chat with US House District 3 Republican candidate Kim Schmett [3]‘s wife Connie (who is also his campaign manager) and US House District 2 Republican candidate Dr. Marrianette Miller-Meeks [4].
I also got a chance to meet and thank several members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I spent some time with Lee (whose last name I missed) who served in Viet Nam as a Navy Seal, and is a big-time barbeque master (he has 3 big smokers!). It was neat to hear him share about some of the people he has met, served with, and the work that the VFW is doing. If you see any of these folks, you be sure and thank them too!
It’s really great to see so many people who are passionate about the state of our nation and want desparately to see the right kind of leadership in Washington!
Tomorrow, John McCain will be speaking at the Des Moines Register Soap Box at 10:30 AM. We plan to be there to see what he has to say.
Lastly, I had to try the all-new Pineapple-on-a-stick! A pineapple spear with a stick through it, deep-fat-fried in funnel-cake batter, and covered with a little liquid sugar. It sounds like it might be too rich, but I thought it was awesome!