What a fantastically good time! I was happy to be one of about 70 folks that showed up, listened appreciatively and respectfully, and learned a lot about what each of the candidates had to say about things of vital importance to folks in and around (and visiting) Arrow Rock.

Lead-off speaker was our own Joe Aull, running unopposed for State Rep from this area, in both primary and general. He showed why folks are apparently pleased with him and want to keep him on the job: genial, knowledgeable, and by his own description "middle of the road." He, as did the others, had a lot to say in the allotted nine minutes (I was official timekeeper, and everyone was precisely within the limit.)

What was bewildering though (if not actually maddening) was why two of our local officials who are running for state office not only didn't show up but didn't have the apparent courtesy to even send an RSVP to the timely and attractive invitation. You would think that if candidates could come from St. Louis County (Margaret Donnelly) and Southwest Missouri (a candidate from the Roaring River State Park area, where 65,000 chickens have just been put in above the water-supply), that Bill Stauffer and Becky Plattner could have had least said SOMETHING. And it's not that the distance would have been a hardship for either of them.

Then again, if one answers to the Farm Bureau Insurance Company instead of the voters, such a decision to stay away would make sense. Am I uncharitable? Or calling a spade a spade?

What I saw was that the real differences for Arrow Rock weren't between Republican and Democrat (we had candidates from both parties) but rather between those who have been unwavering apologists for CAFOs and those who believe that protecting the environment and neighbors must be taken into consideration in the equation between industrial agriculture and enjoyment of life.

So, come see us in Arrow Rock and have a good time, while there is time, before DNR lets more CAFOs creep even closer to the edge of town.