The sights at Farmfest

Covering Farmfest tends to be an all-business affair for me. Most of the time, I'm the one assigned to political candidate coverage instead of the one who gets to wander the grounds and see the sights. But there's still plenty of unusual stuff to catch my eye on the way to the forum tents.

This year, I saw things like a man walking down the aisles of the forum tent during a break in the action and quietly handing everyone fliers. I didn't get a chance to read the flier until later — it was an ad for the "Grassroots Party" gubernatorial candidate Chris Wright, heading up a party platform of legalizing hemp/cannabis. Judging from the "high-quality recycled" texture of the paper, I'd wager the ad was printed on hemp to boot. Oh-kay. Neat way to make a point, but I would've appreciated an explanation to go with the flier.

There was also a young guy, probably high school or college underclassman age, sitting right behind me during the forum and keeping up a whispered running commentary. It got a little annoying after a while, but the kid did get in one good shot. As the panel candidates launched into what felt like the umpteenth round of farm-family anecdotes that hour, he said, "It's a contest. Who's got the best heritage?"

Finally, I saw two cool dudes walk out of a tent wearing matching sunglasses, black slacks, suspenders and gray shirts. They even looked physically alike. Were they twins? Vendors with one of the booths? Farmfest cosplayers? I may never know.