Fairs and Foibles by Judy Haught

Western Oklahomans love a parade. Rodeos and homecoming celebrations wouldn't be complete without a string of marching bands, cardboard and tissue paper floats, horses, beauty queens, and yes, politicians. A parade just happens to be the perfect venue for a candidate, providing high visibility and access to large numbers of voters. However, what seems like a simple follow-the-leader activity is not without pitfalls.

We planned for Elk City's Rodeo Day Parade several weeks in advance. I was going to drive our ATV while Lauren and Eli rode along and threw candy. Doug and Brandon were going to walk and hand out campaign literature. I spent the week prior to the parade with a sense of dread. I have never been very good at driving the ATV, and I had a feeling of foreboding. But wanting to be a good sport, I kept my fears to myself. Well, we decorated the ATV, got our parade number, and got in line. Half a block down the street, my fears were realized; the ATV died. We restarted it, but it died again a few feet down the road. We had to push it off the road leaving Lauren and Brandon to put signs on their car and take our place in the parade.

A helpful bystander did some emergency tinkering on the ATV and got it going again. Doug abandoned the idea of walking and drove while Eli and I rode along and threw candy. Then we committed a huge campaign faux pas: we ran out of candy half way through the parade route. We left small, forlorn-looking children holding empty candy bags. Not really--the bags were filled with other parade participants' candy.

We vowed to have enough candy for the next parade, but, alas, we ran out again at the Thomas Homecoming Parade. Maybe we will get this parade thing down before the election.

County fairs continued, and we had good intentions of making them all. The only problem was that the Custer, Beckham, and Ellis County fairs were held on the same weekend. With some fancy maneuvering and many vehicle miles, Doug did make an appearance at all three fairs. With my assistance and the excellent help of our good friend Ed Rolison, we manned booths in all three counties. As a result, children from all over the district sported "Haught for District Judge" stickers on their shirts.

The campaign continues with more social events than we can name and evening after evening of door knocking.

Remember a vote for Judge Haught is vote for hard work and persistence.