Yesterday we joined the Tea Party caravan in Sparks, Nevada. The Sparks Tea Party started with a multi-partisan Candidate Forum and Town Hall meeting from 3-5pm. I don't know how often that's ever been done in northern Nevada, but it seemed unusual. Candidates from the American Independent Party, Democrat and Republican parties took the stage, and most took questions from the audience of concerned voters. It was very informative, and I really enjoyed seeing so many candidates of so many different stripes all addressing the taxpayers at the same venue.
There were representatives from several local political groups, parties, candidate tables and vendors selling everything from food to flags. Plenty of room for everyone to mill around and pick up something that would help them express their positions on the various issues.
I sneaked behind the scenes and got to meet one of my very favorite Fox news reporters - Griff Jenkins. http://www.foxnewsradio.com/category/blogs/griff-jenkins/#axzz0Pe4M36T3 He always does the really amusing reports, which are much-needed while I'm watching the continuous loop of doom and gloom these past months, and I confess, I'm a huge fan. I'm actually pretty jaded, having grown up in the entertainment industry, and I'm rarely impressed by "personalities" or entertainers. Had it been Glenn Beck, I would have nodded a cool, "hey, Glenn." Bill O'Reilly - a simple, "Mr. O'Reilly. But there I was, shaking his hand and gushing, "I'm a huge fan. Can we get you anything," like he was Elvis. Whatever. So, I'm a dork. It was a nice treat to meet him. I even snapped a photo of him with my beloved husband, John - the T-Shirt Guy.
The Tea Party Express buses (two of them, beautifully wrapped with the map and TPE logo) http://teapartyexpress.org/ came storming in from their first stop in Sacramento at around 5:30 and got the big show going. Good music, speakers, raffle prizes from AngerisBrewing.com...what a show. Even though it was super Nevada-indian-summer-hot, I had a great day. Our whole family enjoyed it. And we sold a bunch of stuff to help us pay a little bit to Debbie for the expenses of the tea party rentals.
I'm not great at estimating crowds, especially when they're all spread out, but I'd venture a guess we had around 1,500 Tea Party Patriots in Sparks. RGJ said it was only 500. Hmf. I'll post photos as soon as I figure that part out on this blog deal.
My favorite part of the day, aside from meeting Griff, that is, was when the veterans were all called forward to the stage. Rivoli Revue sang a song "Freedom Isn't Free" about veterans, and the fallen, while Mark Williams and Deborah Johns (more about them here: http://teapartyexpress.org/about/index.html ) walked down the line and thanked each vet looking at them eye-to-eye. Well, if there was a dry eye in the house, somebody needs Restasis.
In fact, it didn't get any less emotional while I watched the repeat of that scene in Winnemucca (around 150 folks) and Elko (about 1000) today. If this next part happened in Sparks, I missed it, but in Winnemucca and Elko, after Deborah and Mark passed down the line of vets, members of the Tea Party crowd came through and shook hands, hugged and kissed each veteran, too. It seemed quite spontaneous, and was very moving. And after driving the same route as this story mentions... http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908260332 Good lord, hasn't anyone thanked a vet lately? Why don't you go find one and say something nice to them, like, "hey, thanks for risking your life so I can do what I please with my life here," or...? Give it a try. I'm going to. BTW, Thanks, Debbie Landis, Alan Gilly, Christen Gonzales, Roy Fraticelli, Tim Torres, Robert Gallegos, Joe Gallegos, Randy Hix, Dale Williams, and all you AngerisBrewing Tea Party Patriot veterans. I love my country, and I love my freedom. I appreciate you.
Now, time to get packed to visit Ely tomorrow.
