When you are working at the Convention of States booth at a county fair, you can expect to hear just about anything, yet her comment took the cake. When I heard this lady yell that out to her husband, I was compelled to ‘rope’ her back in, luring her to our booth with candy and my silver tongue. When I got her to the booth and explained exactly what the Convention of States was about, we roared with laughter and they both signed the petition with enthusiasm.
Under the strong leadership of David Freeman, DC HD-13, he and his team, in less than 7 full days, enrolled 884 patriotic petition signers! A truly magnificent job was done by the Lorain County Fair COS volunteers!
Volunteering for events like this is stimulating; animating; galvanizing; draining, but worth every bit of effort. What I experienced in my interactions with ‘real America’ covered the entire gamut of emotions, every size, shape, age, socioeconomic status, education, and beliefs. There were families with little kids, older folks with walkers, and people in electric carts. Veterans, Gen Z-ers, and vendors from other booths who made their way to our beautifully equipped booth.
There was one consistent fact: it was that Americans are angry, frustrated, disappointed and enormously afraid for where our country is heading. While many of the comments and exasperations I heard from my side of the table would be inappropriate to share in this article, I can share some of the more common ones:
“Throw the bums out!”
“We need to get rid of everyone and start afresh.”
“We the people…where did that part of the constitution get lost?”
“This should have been done years ago…when we did it for the President.”
“Pelosi, McConnell, Schumer, Grassley and those like them need to go.”
“We need AGE limits! I’m old at 68 and we have these old codgers still in office…this is nuts.”
“If I sign this will the FBI raid my home?”
“They’re stealing my money to give to the lazy “#@*&%s!”
“One day in office is almost too long.”
On the contralateral side, I heard comments like:
“Thank you for being here and doing this for our country.”
“May GOD bless you for your service.”
“Tell me how I can volunteer.”
“I love your shirt…where do I sign?”
“We’ve got to save our country.”
“You folks are making a difference. Please keep it up.”
“This can’t happen fast enough and thank you for what you’re doing.”
We had an indoor booth, protecting us from the scorching sun. However, standing at a booth for four hours can be a drag, tough on your feet, lonely at times when fair traffic drops off, and hot when the temperatures outside are in the 90’s. Continue this for four different shifts and you become exhausted.
Even after all my ‘whining’ I must admit, it was so worth it. The volunteer team that David orchestrated were incredibly committed and eager to help. While most of us did not know one another, the camaraderie among the volunteers, the willingness to do what was needed, and the feeling of hope, excitement, and patriotism was on full display. What was so impressive was the immediate friendships that were developed along with gaggles of laughter. All were there for a singular cause: reclaiming our Republic. Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.
Being at a fair booth is a gratifying and fun way to interact with and engage fellow Americans. It becomes easy to discount the snide, rude, and uneducated comments when you quickly realize there are millions of others who feel as strongly as you do about the pathetic state of our country.
Americans are eager for a change and a place to feel safe; they are prepared to stand up and declare allegiance to our Constitution and a return to common sense. It made my heart sing to see many examples of young parents with pre-teenage kids come to the booth, sign the petition, at the same time explain to their children how important it is to love our country and to love it so much we must stand up to tyranny. I believe that what we become as Americans depends on what our parents happen to teach us at odd moments when they aren’t necessarily trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.
There was a 20-year-old young lady who admitted she was so disappointed in her generation because most of them were clueless as to current events and the attacks on our way of life. That one lady was enough to give me inspiration because if one is saying this out loud, there are many who silently yearn for something better.
To accrue the amazing success of 884 COS petition signers in under seven days and think it inconsequential is a mistake. I witnessed eager petition signers coming to our booth even before the show opened at 10:00 am. I witnessed people politely standing in line waiting for their opportunity to sign. I witnessed people who came back to the booth later to sign the petition because the lines were too long. This fair experience was an outrageously exciting way to not only secure signatures but to garner questions and educate our countrymen. Folks were engaged, eager to learn more and excited to be a part of the solution, a solution as big as the problem.
In conclusion, let’s acknowledge the lady who said, “Honey, they’re selling TERM insurance!” in a laughable way. Metaphorically, she wasn’t too far off the mark. Term insurance covers you for a specific amount of time…exactly what we want to do with our federal politicians, judges, and bureaucrats. We aim to limit them to a specific amount of time in office.
I came away from my Lorain County Fair experience exceptionally proud to be an American. It reminded me that if you want to conquer fear and not just sit home, go out and get busy. David Freeman and the Lorain County Fair team got busy! As I look to the future of HJR1 and SJR-4, I cannot help but think that optimism is a happiness magnet. If we stay positive and believe that both will pass out of their respective committees, good things and good people will be drawn to our crusade.
