Springfest Success -- April 23, 2001
The weather in Fayetteville on Saturday, April 21, was perfect -- mid 70s -- and the crowds thronged the street all day. Our new 10'x10' canopy kept the booth workers from baking in the sun and gave us a professional look. Our main table faced the street with another table facing the sidewalk side, and our booth position at the east end of Dickson near the stage for band performances guaranteed high traffic all day. 

  

  

At right: The ARDPArk Medical Marijuana information and petition signing booth at the Fayetteville Springfest turned heads and attracted all ages.
  
Darrel Henschell brought the new canopy and the tables, and Denele helped him set up -- a little hectic, since our designated space had been occupied by a concession trailer. But we were ready to roll more or less on time, not that the crowds waited 'til 10am  to arrive. Georgia Lance came to start work with Denele at 10, and neither of them had time to sit down or say two words for the next four hours. People were lined up to sign the petitions, ask questions, and buy t-shirts. 

Sue Cornell arrived at 2pm for her shift and Elayne Hency came rushing along as soon as her dance performances were finished. They both worked the front table with an even busier afternoon crowd and Denele stayed to work the back table. There were still people coming when we were tearing down at 6pm. 

We collected over 600 signatures, a record for one day. We distributed 32 activists packets, sold bumper stickers, patient story booklets and t-shirts, and accepted donations for a total of $416. We handed out over 500 of our red cross/pot leaf stickers. 

In general the people were festive and even those who didn't come up to our tables could not avoid smiling when they read our signs "Medical Marijuana". Of course there were the innumerable times we were asked for "free samples."  Some people had legitimate questions and were willing to engage in intelligent dialogue. Only once did someone seem hostile -- an older man with his wife -- he skirted the front table, and then stalked around to the back table, scowling -- and then stepped off the curb at the end of the table and asked Denele, "What's next, cocaine?" 

Thankfully, Denele was quick on the uptake and said, "Actually, sir, cocaine is already legal for medical use." He wasn't happy to hear that and hurried off without waiting to learn any other unwanted facts.  

Many people had stories they wanted to tell about themselves or a loved one who had experience with medical use. We'll be following up to collect those stories for our second volume.  

We'll be hoping for other great events like this as spring rolls into summer!