43
Hundreds brave rain to get tickets for Paisley concert
Opponents of the McCain-Palin ticket plan protests for Monday and Tuesday.
GUSTAVUS — Despite drenching downpours, hundreds of people waited for hours Saturday at the site of Gustavus’ former elementary school for Brad Paisley concert tickets.
Country superstar Paisley will perform Wednesday morning at the Hayes Road farm of Henry and Linda Lipps.
The concert will be part of a 7 to 9 a.m. live broadcast of ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
GMA is stopping in rural Gustavus as part of its whistle-stop “50 States in 50 Days Tour.”
Although concert tickets weren’t scheduled to be distributed by GMA staff until 3 p.m. Saturday, throngs of folks showed up early.
Carissa Bogan, 16, of Gustavus, was first in line.
“I’ve been here since 8 a.m. this morning,” Bogan said from beneath the shelter of a soaked umbrella. “I’m a huge Brad Paisley fan.”
Bogan is also an aspiring songstress.
The local teen recently recorded a country CD and hopes her brush with Paisley and GMA will somehow jump-start her dreams of stardom.
Huddled under umbrellas in a long line that snaked around the wet parking lot, dozens of locals professed to standing in the rain for hours.
Michelle Drnek of Williamsfield arrived around 8 a.m., and so did Lyda Dagres of Vernon.
Brenda Behne of Kinsman showed up at about 10:15 a.m. and passed the time talking with Joyce Jones, also of Kinsman.
Jones happens to the sister of Henry Lipps, owner of the farm where the concert will take place.
Jones said the Lipps’ Hayes Road farm is a bustling scene of activity as preparations are made for Wednesday’s broadcast.
A concert stage is also being erected on the farm, and Bob Phillips, a Gustavus township trustee, called GMA’s visit to the area “a really big deal for Gustavus.”
People who received concert tickets were instructed to arrive at the site of the former Gustavus Elementary School at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday wearing special wristbands.
“The early arrival is probably for security purposes,” said Ruthie Palich of Kinsman.
Palich said she’s not sure how her 6-year-old daughter will cope with rising before dawn.
Concertgoers will park their cars at the site of the former Gustavus elementary school and then be bused to the Lipps farm.
Bridgette Maney, a press person for GMA, said no further information about the concert or the Wednesday morning broadcast would be disclosed at this time.
It has leaked out, however, that an interview with Republican presidential nominee John McCain will be a part of Wednesday morning’s programming, something not all Mahoning Valley residents are pleased about.
Local members of the AFL-CIO and allied progressive groups are opposing the McCain-Palin visit to the area. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is McCain’s vice presidential candidate.
A Saturday press release issued by the AFL-CIO says they will “call out the Republican nominees on the hypocrisy of their rhetoric” during a pre-emptive press conference at 11 a.m. Monday at the AFSCME Ohio Council 8 Hall in Austintown at 150 S. Four Mile Run Road.
A protest is also being organized for the McCain-Palin “Victory 2008 Rally” at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Youngstown-Warren Airport in Vienna.
Mike Gillis, political communication director for the AFL-CIO said, “We will choose a site very near the entrance of the airport. At least 50 people will be present for the protest.”
Gillis said McCain and Palin have been trying to position themselves as reformers, but the record shows that they represent a continuation of President Bush’s failed economic agenda.
Gillis further criticized McCain by saying “he claims he wants to fix Washington while he has more than 150 lobbyists working for or raising money for him. His lobbyist campaign manager helped push through deals that could lead to the loss of thousands of Ohio jobs.”
Speakers at the press conference will emphasize specific examples of the McCain-Palin hypocrisy and explain how continuing the present economic course will have dire consequences for Ohio, Gillis said.