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Two parasailers float across the sky toting an "Obama for Change" sign midday Tuesday near Incline Beach.
While more than 100 people gathered for a private John McCain fundraiser at the Lakeshore Boulevard home of Jan and Bob Davidson, another 75 joined together at Preston Field for an Obama’s People’s Picnic.
“This really is the contrast between the two candidates,” said event organizer Walt Borland. “We have a family event that is open to the public and free while they are having a fundraiser that costs thousands of dollars to attend.”
Borland said he is the founder of an Incline Village group called Red, White and Blue United for Change, which has been hosting several meetings in support of Barack Obama, D-Ill, the presumptive democratic presidential nominee.
“As a lifelong Republican I was not excited about the direction of the party and I didn’t think McCain was the best candidate so I decided to support Obama and become active in my town,” Borland said.
McCain’s visit spurred Tuesday’s picnic, he said.
“We decided we wanted to host an event for the community,” he said.
The picnic was a chance to meet other Obama supporters and be more involved, said Cindy Coverdale, who attended.
“Obama rocks!” said her son, Jasper, 11, who said he wished he was old enough to vote.
While the hamburgers were grilling and people milled around the park, another Obama supporter parasailed near Lakeshore Boulevard, towing an Obama banner.
The parasail and banner were meant to draw attention and were timed during the McCain event, said John Lundin, the parasailer.
“We started mulling over ideas to greet McCain and it popped into my head to parasail,” he said. “We thought it would create a splash.”
Between the two events and publicity surrounding them, Rick Lambertti said the events of the day made it obvious that there was a choice to be made in the upcoming election.
“There’s a very clear choice between continuing the policies of the Bush administration or voting for change,” Lambertti said.
The picnic’s turn-out hopefully demonstrated that there are active Obama supporters in Incline Village, Lambertti said.
For Margie Lapanja the picnic really encapsulated the essence of the Obama campaign, she said.
“A private citizen organized it which really falls in line with how this campaign is run,”
she said. “Anyone could come and it was open to the community.”
“This really is the contrast between the two candidates,” said event organizer Walt Borland. “We have a family event that is open to the public and free while they are having a fundraiser that costs thousands of dollars to attend.”
Borland said he is the founder of an Incline Village group called Red, White and Blue United for Change, which has been hosting several meetings in support of Barack Obama, D-Ill, the presumptive democratic presidential nominee.
“As a lifelong Republican I was not excited about the direction of the party and I didn’t think McCain was the best candidate so I decided to support Obama and become active in my town,” Borland said.
McCain’s visit spurred Tuesday’s picnic, he said.
“We decided we wanted to host an event for the community,” he said.
The picnic was a chance to meet other Obama supporters and be more involved, said Cindy Coverdale, who attended.
“Obama rocks!” said her son, Jasper, 11, who said he wished he was old enough to vote.
While the hamburgers were grilling and people milled around the park, another Obama supporter parasailed near Lakeshore Boulevard, towing an Obama banner.
The parasail and banner were meant to draw attention and were timed during the McCain event, said John Lundin, the parasailer.
“We started mulling over ideas to greet McCain and it popped into my head to parasail,” he said. “We thought it would create a splash.”
Between the two events and publicity surrounding them, Rick Lambertti said the events of the day made it obvious that there was a choice to be made in the upcoming election.
“There’s a very clear choice between continuing the policies of the Bush administration or voting for change,” Lambertti said.
The picnic’s turn-out hopefully demonstrated that there are active Obama supporters in Incline Village, Lambertti said.
For Margie Lapanja the picnic really encapsulated the essence of the Obama campaign, she said.
“A private citizen organized it which really falls in line with how this campaign is run,”
she said. “Anyone could come and it was open to the community.”
