Today was one of the days that I could combine two passions of mine.... art and politics. The only thing that would have made the day better was sunshine, but then again, it is September in Central New York.
A number of volunteers wanted to represent Mike Arcuri at the Remsen Barn Festival this weekend. I decided to head up a bit early and spend some time shopping by myself since this was one of the events that usually is a core for holiday gift-giving.
Now, the Remsen Barn Festival is an arts and crafts show heavily spiced up with good food. It's not a political event per se, but it is one of the local events where a presence is expected. Besides, central NY has a long history in hand-crafting and supporting the local small businesses is an extra bonus of buying art pieces. I think most of the major campaigns were represented during the day.
But for the first 2 hours of my day there, I planned to spend my money and see what the artists were doing.
What is it that they say about plans?
As I stepped onto the bus, a woman comments that she likes my pin. I was wearing an Arcuri pin. I smiled, thanked her and asked if she'd like one to. I handed her one of the pins I had.
Then I sat down. And the woman next to me says, "I'd like one too
After getting to the Festival, I was able to shop for a few stalls before yet another person appreciated my pin.
And that pretty much set the activities of the day. Oh, I got my shopping in too (though to be honest, the only gifts I bought are for my cat... everything else is for myself!)
I also got a call from someone who was spending the day in Auburn. It was a rather funny call. I said "Hi" and and we chatted briefly about the weather. I was hoping the rain would hold off and she was being drenched. Then she said that she was probably calling for a pretty silly reason. She'd just seen a Centro bus with a Mike Arcuri ad on the side.
I remember the ads we had on buses back when Mike first ran for DA. We didn't have cell phones back then, so the excited calls or conversations about seeing "the bus" were limited to evenings or getting together, but it was still fun and exciting.
And it still is.
I gave a number of pins away today. It's fun and exciting that each offer was prompted by the spontaneous comments of the voters. There weren't flags around us. There wasn't a sign-in table in front of me. No policy statements. No debate.
Just a lot of people who prefer Mike Arcuri to be our Congressman and who aren't afraid to say it.
Maimun
