(Spirit Lake)– Hundreds of people from throughout the region flocked to the Spirit Lake Wal-Mart store Thursday to meet Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor and possible Presidential contender. Palin was on hand signing copies of her latest book.
Among those waiting in line was Shannon Stone of Lake Park. She told KUOO news “it’s wonderful to have a woman here on her level” adding “she’s a very good mother and I’ve watched her show” referring to Palin’s reality show on cable.
Lindsay Bush of Brewster, Minnesota was up at 4:00 a.m. to make the trip to Spirit Lake. She said she wanted to tell Palin how much she admires her and how much of an inspiration she is to the country.
Jim Keline, a former Alaska resident who now lives in Spirit Lake, told KUOO news he feels the fact Palin took timeout to visit a small town like Spirit Lake means she cares about everyone.
Sam Ashland, an 8th grader at Spirit Lake Middle School, was also in line. She sent Palin a blanket with bears and moose on it, and said she was shocked when Palin wrote back to her, complete with an autographed photo.
Gene Christiansen of Arnolds Park was also on hand. He retired from the Navy in 1974. Christiansen said the message he wants to relay to Palin is people from his era “are very fast going broke because the economy we live in today is so out-stripped of what was expected and we’re getting worse every day. If something isn’t done I’m not sure what’s going to happen”.
Protesters were also on hand for today’s (Thurs.) event, but police and security personnel say no major incidents were reported.
Palin made no comments to the media.
