Henry Aaron was in town today campaigning for Gov. Jim Doyle. The scheduled start time was 12:15, and I was nervous when I left at 11:30 or so from work that I wouldn't get a parking spot.
Maybe because it's political in nature, or maybe because it's a Thursday in the middle of the day with school in session, or maybe because it was WAY too cold for October, the parking lot was nearly empty. Here we are, about a half hour before Wisconsin's governor and the All-Time Home Run King (and by "all-time", I mean ALL time, Barry) were about to speak, and hardly anyone was there. I stood on the outside of one of those signs they use when they block off traffic, no more than 20 feet from the Aaron statue. I started to wonder if I was allowed to be there. Slowly, people filled in. I come to find out later that a radio station reported the duo was running about an hour late. That would explain the lack of crowd, I guess. As we waited, more and more people showed up and in the end I would say several hundred were there.
Anyway, the report was dead-on and at 1:15 the program started. I told a friend of mine a few minutes earlier that if it didn't start by then, I just had to get back to work. I was very glad it did, though. State Senator Ron Kind, who did a wise thing by hob-nobbing with the crowd rather than his compadres who stayed behind the barriers apparently congratulating themselves, opened the event with a few fine remarks with humor built right in. He concluded in maybe a little more than five minutes, and he intoduced Doyle's son, Doyle, and Aaron.
Doyle's son took the mike for just a moment or two before turning it over to his dad. Gov. Doyle entertained us with a light-hearted talk that seemed to focus more on the event that day rather than the election. He turned things over to Henry after no more than 6-7 minutes. Henry mainly spoke of how proud he was to get his start here and giving back to the community, which was a smooth segue to his pitch for Doyle. Again, I didn't feel overwhelmed with political speak and I really appreciated the fact that he made the trip here. Doyle then closed the short program with a "get out and vote" chat.
After the applause died down, it was apparent that we would even be able to get closer to the two. The barricades were no more, basically, and people began streaming toward Aaron and Doyle. I figured security would put an end to it quickly, but much to my surprise they almost welcomed it. It was almost like they were glad the formal stuff was done so they could meet the public. Rather than a nice line, though, it was chaotic. But I think Henry made every effort to shake everyone's hand. He seemed a little overwhelmed, but nothing that kept him from smiling. After only a few moments, he shook my extended hand. I thanked him for coming back, and he thanked me for coming out. It was a great moment for me, and something I wasn't expecting. I almost felt sorry for our Governor, who didn't have near the mob that Aaron had. I went over and thanked him, too.
I sure am glad RCU is such a great company to work for. I'm sure the fact that many other companies aren't nearly as flexible with their employees certainly kept the crowd low today.
