We went through 180 name tags, and not everybody stopped by to get one. The huge kids' inflatable bounce-and-jump-and-climb-and-slide thingamajig (what do you call those things, anyway?!?) stayed full from the word go until we had to run everybody out to break it down at the end of the night.
The cool thing about this kind of event is the help you get in setting everything up, and we most definitely had plenty of helping hands. First of all, Rick and my dad would still be stuck trying to figure out how to set the tents up if it hadn't been for Michael Dickerson. With Michael on hand, they had the tents and the inflatable up and ready to roll in about 30 minutes or so.
Michael also helped break everything down, as did John, Shane Childress and Josh Lincolnfelt. Oh yeah ... and my nephew, Denver Rakes, picked up trash. Ted Ashley brought his monstrous cooker and cooked until he had to leave for his son's football game. Walter Shore and John Spillman took over. Donna Shore Terrell and Jo de Journette passed out name tags and my campaign decals.
My biggest thanks goes to Debbie Childress, who hosted the event. She shut her business down for those two hours, and along with Marie Ashley, daughter Shanda and daughter-in-law Candy Childress, served the food.
Now, for some pictures ...
Hearsay finally made it back home today, just in time for the cookout. He brought along pictures from some of his adventures this summer ...
Jimmy Lancaster, our pastor at Maplewood Baptist Church in Yadkinville, gave the invocation ...
Friends don't come any better than these folks. That's Artie and Cindy Greer on the right, along with Chase (on the left) and Bryce (in Artie's arms) ...
Ted Ashley, working man ...
A shot of the crowd ...
That's Una and Jim Graham with Pierre and Carol Hamel ...
