I'm a regular reader of that particular Iowa-centric blog, even though the anonymous collective tends to lean left of center in some things. One thing this morning piqued my interest, however... State29 said that gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon was competing in the accordion contest at the Iowa State Fair today at 2:30. I did some quick mental calculating and decided I could probably make it out there if I timed things right. I grabbed the camera and the notepad and the three kids, and we dashed over to the Fair.
When we entered Pioneer Hall, the first-prize winner in the harmonica contest was performing. Holy smokes, that guy was good. I don't think I've ever heard a Bach/Ravel medley on harmonica.
During the Button Accordion division, I wrote the following in my notepad: "State29 owes me $20 (the cost of admission for myself and the kids) for having to sit through all this squeezebox action." Thankfully there were only three of those. Then the Keyboard Accordion division got underway. I didn't pay too much attention to the first couple of folks, but then OMG, #804 actually had on a COSTUME with white spats and everything. On his straw hat he had a large button with a photo of a woman and, from what I could gather from that distance, the dates of her birth and death. There's a memorial for ya.
#805 was a white-haired granny doing a medley of hymns: "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," "Are You Washed In the Blood of the Lamb?," and "Amazing Grace." Not bad, either. She finished up with some polka number that I am, um, unfamiliar with. Thank God.
#806 was my very own Iowa congressman and candidate for Iowa governor, Ed Fallon. He actually started out with "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago and he had me at that one. Very lovely playing, truly. He's a talented guy; I'm actually impressed.
#808 was a woman with short hair and the fastest fingers I've ever heard/seen. She's going to win this. Her dynamics and expression were spot-on.
#810 is a little girl with blonde braids and a Swedish-looking costume dress. Very, very cute. Isaac leaned over to me and whispered, "Mom, she's very pretty. Would you get a picture of her?" [sigh] My little boy's already twitterpated, it seems. hehe
A few more contestants to suffer through, then the awards ceremony. Congratulations to Ed Fallon for his second-place finish, and to the short-haired lady with fast fingers (Sherry Head, I believe was her name) for coming in first. Each contestant spoke briefly and introduced themselves; the emcee mentioned that Ed Fallon was actually running for governor, and Fallon said, "It's about time Iowa had an accordion-playing governor!" which garnered chuckles from the audience (mostly geezers, big surprise there). He also mentioned that he plays seven instruments, but that the accordion takes the most courage to play in public, so that's why he was there. Hey, I can respect that.
I briefly caught up with Fallon after the competition and spoke to him. His inspiration, he said, was his grandmother. I asked him if he was at all inspired by the recently-passed Myron Floren of Lawrence Welk fame and he said, "Oh, I used to watch him, but only under duress because my parents were watching The Lawrence Welk Show."
Whatever his Green-ish views, Ed Fallon really is a very nice fellow, and I respect him for steering clear of PAC money and shady contributions. Iowa could certainly do lots worse than elect him for governor. He'd be a major improvement over the current lot of charlatans. Just sayin'. I'm not particularly thrilled with any of the other candidates from either major party. Fallon has a pretty good chance of getting my vote.
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