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    • Politicians at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in Evansville
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    Politicians at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in Evansville

    Kathleen William Posted on

    EVANSVILLE – Politicians campaigned at the West Side Nut Club's Fall Festival this week in keeping with a time-honored tradition – but they didn't kiss babies, shake hands or pat them on the back.

    Most of the time they were ignored.

    There were myriad reasons for the indifference with which festival-goers greeted Republican Russ Lloyd Jr., a candidate for Vanderburgh County recorder, and Democratic County Commission candidate Hope Fussner on Wednesday. Chief among them: Many do not live in Vanderburgh County, some who do live there are not politically active or not necessarily eligible to vote, and some came to the fall festival for other reasons.

    More: How West Side Nut Club's Half Pot went from fever dream to sensation

    “We come down to enjoy the food,” Newburgh resident Phil Roscoe told the Courier & Press. “They (political candidates) can do their thing.”

    Roscoe, who has attended the festival for years, is open to chatting with the contestants who show up – but he has never stopped engaging any of them in conversation.

    And if they try to make contact?

    “I never had the opportunity,” Roscoe said.

    Andrew Clark of Henderson, Kentucky, walks right past the candidates. Not that Clark doesn't care, but he doesn't think about politics at the Fall Festival. And then of course there's the whole not living in Vanderburgh County thing.

    “Right now we're mostly on the rides, so we haven't been walking around too much,” Clark said.

    In a sea of ​​people that likely numbered tens of thousands Wednesday afternoon, Warrick County resident Jane Stinson didn't even notice Lloyd and Fussner. The two political hopefuls stood in front of their respective parties' festival stands and looked for opportunities to make eye contact or initiate a conversation.

    That didn't happen with Stinson.

    “Honestly, I didn’t see any today,” she said of the local candidates.

    It was 3 p.m. and Stinson had been at the festival since noon.

    The Courier & Press conducted an admittedly small and unscientific sample of about a dozen festival-goers and found only one who lives in Vanderburgh County. That would be Caroline Coughlin, who showed up with her 18-month-old daughter, her mother and other family members.

    No, Coughlin said, she didn't notice any politicians at the Fall Festival. She's been coming for about 20 years, since she was in middle school, but she doesn't remember ever meeting anyone running for office.

    “I vote, but I don’t have much interest in politics,” Coughlin said.

    It might make a difference for her if she were speaking to a candidate for public office at the Fall Festival, Coughlin said, but “probably not today since I have my daughter and we're on the road there.”

    Here's why they do it

    Lloyd, a former Evansville mayor and a nearly 30-year veteran of the local political scene, glistened with sweat in the Wednesday afternoon sun. In anticipation of cooler weather, he had put on two shirts – a blue campaign T-shirt over a black polo.

    Why do it? Wouldn't he be better off with a list of active voters and a telephone or a door-knocking team?

    “It’s free advertising — just like a billboard, I guess,” said Lloyd, who was Evansville mayor from 2000 to 2004. “But people can talk if they want to talk to you about problems. Although most people do. “I'm more interested in brain sandwiches or onion rings or tacos or whatever.”

    Some people approached Lloyd to reminisce about his tenure as mayor or just to get an idea of ​​him, he said. It happened a few times while Lloyd was speaking to the Courier & Press.

    He's pretty sure that even if the Fall Festival lasted a year, no one would ask: What is a county recorder?

    For the record, the Record Office is one of the few in local government that generates revenue. Recorders are recorders of records that establish ownership of real property. These include mortgages, deeds, liens, military discharges, subdivision plans, leases, public and private bonds, personal property and powers of attorney. The county clerk shall prepare and furnish official copies of any record or document when required by law, ordered by the court, or requested by a party.

    Lloyd is running for the office against Democrat Gina Robinson Ungar.

    Democratic Commissioner candidate Fussner had an advantage that Lloyd didn't: her party's standing was in the shadows for most of Wednesday afternoon.

    Fussner, who is running against Republican Amy Canterbury in the Nov. 5 election, acknowledged that the Fall Festival campaign isn't just about the numbers. It's about being seen to be making an effort. Renew contacts. meeting people. After all, the event is an important fundraiser for area nonprofits.

    “It's about being in our community and being with everyone who is here and hoping…,” Fussner said, breaking off to greet voters as they approached.

    “Hello guys,” she sang. “My neighbors are right here.

    “Every day I work,” said Fussner, a first-time candidate who was scheduled to work at the festival on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. “I’m out and about in our community every day.”

    Fussner gave the Courier & Press a door knocker for the campaign.

    Lloyd and Fussner said their respective parties are helping coordinate schedules for the other local candidates' appearances at the fall festival. Both parties' booths were decorated with signs and information materials for candidates and not just local candidates.

    On Wednesday afternoon, Lloyd and Fussner were hoping for a more substantive dialogue with voters — Vanderburgh County voters — at the festival.

    “I knocked on thousands of doors this year and got a lot of feedback,” said Fussner. “But not today. Not yet. But I bet there will be one.”

    Lloyd, a veteran of the fall festival scene, pointed hopefully to Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights — times when there will be more voters and candidates in attendance and perhaps a more receptive audience to his joy.

    “I greet people I know and you see other candidates too,” he said. “It’s good to be here.”

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    Kathleen William
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