Pictured above: Shelby Shultz and Bobby Johnson. This report was made possible by Debbie Baker, Regional Captain for Convention of States Kansas.
Sporting an eye-catching booth and friendly smiles, volunteers for Convention of States Kansas collected over 940 petitions at the recent Kansas State Fair.
It's the most petitions on record for a Convention of States event.
"This is a way we can do something for our Constitution and our nation," Bobby Johnson said. "We the People can actually do more than just voting, and it's in our Constitution."
Planning for the 2018 Kansas State Fair began as soon as the 2017 fair was over. The project manager was Regional Captain Bobby Johnson from Wichita.
"I've been involved with Convention of States for four years, and I decided this is the most important place for us to be," he said.
Their goal of collecting 1,000 petitions seemed like a stretch, but Bobby and his team invested many days of prayer and preparation.
God’s grace and favor were evident in the execution of Bobby’s plan that included the design and construction of an attractive and professional booth, recruiting volunteers to staff nine days of the fair, assembling printed materials, and working up general instructions for volunteers.
Bobby and fellow Regional Captain Mike Goodin designed, fabricated, transported, and assembled the booth to be ready when the gates opened on September 7.
One special visitor to the exhibit this year was Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer who had endorsed Convention of States during his primary campaign. This endorsement by the governor and other candidates was instrumental in the Kansas GOP adopting a Convention of States plank in their 2018 platform.
The most important element of the Kansas State Fair Project was the number of volunteers working 108 hours of the fair. Most of the 28 volunteers worked in the fair exhibit several hours during the day and some worked full 12-hour days.
"That's why we did so well," Bobby said. "We had a phenomenal bunch of folks who are committed to this. We want Kansas to pass real bad."
One unexpected volunteer was Kansas Senator Larry Alley, a sponsor of our COS resolution in 2018. Senator Alley graciously spent several hours of his Saturday afternoon at the fair helping to convince Kansans that there is significant support for COS in the Kansas legislature.
In fact Kansas would have already passed the Convention of States resolution were it not for the state constitution requirement to have a two-thirds majority of each chamber to pass any Article V legislation.
"We've got a chance to make history," Bobby said. We've got 12 states, and I'd love for Kansas to be number 13."
Many fairgoers had never heard of Convention of States but were ready to sign as soon as they realized the opportunity to fix our broken federal government was as close as the pen in their hand.
The importance of the State Fair project was made soberly clear when a couple from Canada stopped by the booth.
“People don’t realize what they are about to lose,” one of them said. They were surprised that an amendment convention had not already occurred. Sorry folks, but we don’t plan on losing.
The goal was to collect a thousand signed petitions. The team was encouraged when signed petitions surpassed last year’s total after only four days!
Volunteers came from every area of the state. There were at least two and as many as five volunteers in the booth. This allowed the volunteers to address more visitors and explain the significance of Article V in this unsettling time for our country.
They were willing to give whatever was required to make the 2018 Kansas State Fair a success for Convention of States.
The 940 signed petitions would not have been possible without the commitment of these patriotic Kansas volunteers.
"I wholeheartedly believe in Convention of States," Bobby said. "It's time to get'r done."
