Medina County Friends And Neighbors
Volunteer Information
Medina County Fair
August 2 - August 8
1) Location
Our booth is in the Community Center Building of the Medina County Fairgrounds. A map is available on our website. The Community Center is the building furthest to the South on the Fairgrounds, and has a large paved parking lot. The best entrance to use is the Fair Road entrance, off Lafayette Road. The exact location of our booth within the Community Center Building is the southeastern corner of the building, down the aisle from the cafeteria. The Ohio Project will be right next to us.
2) Admission and cost
Cost of admission is $5 general admission, or $2 for seniors and kids under 11. We have bought a quantity of tickets for use by our volunteers, so please stop by the Headquarters or make other arrangements to get yours. Volunteers who arrive for duty without an admission ticket will have to pay the fee at the window to enter, but can then pick up a ticket from out booth and take it back to the box office for a refund (it must be done within 15 minutes of entering).
3) Setup
We’re already set up.
4) Breakdown
Experience from last year indicates that this is easily done in a few minutes.
5) Fair Rules
All rules of the Fair must be observed. We will post a copy inside the booth if available. For now however there are only two that we have heard of that should be noted:
a) The booth must have at least one attendant at all times, from 10 AM until 10 PM on each day of the Fair. Naturally we would want to do that anyway. It should also be no problem, considering the volunteer coverage we’ve received in the past, and the fact that we will be coordinating efforts with the Ohio Project table. Medina Right to Life about 25 years west is also staffed by conservatives.
b) An attendant may not leave the booth to talk to people. We bend this rule a little bit in order to be friendly and engaging; it is pretty common. We cannot block the aisle, hinder passage, pursue people or tackle them.
6) MCFAN rules
We want to present the best possible image to the public. Accordingly we must at a minimum follow the rules we have advocated for public events such as rallies, demonstrations and protests:
a) Vulgar or aggressive behavior is not tolerated.
b) If anyone becomes vulgar or aggressive report them to police or designated authorities immediately
c) If a heckler confronts us, ignore them and tolerate them until they go away; don’t argue
d) If you see a heckler confronting someone, film them in case they do something provocative
e) Be friendly and cordial with everyone
f) Treat everyone with dignity and respect
g) Meet new friends
h) Have fun!
i) Clean up before you leave
7) Our goals
Our mission is to grow the conservative grassroots. At the county level we do this by identifying, interesting, informing, involving, enabling and energizing patriots.
a) Goal #1 is to build our numbers. We do this by getting people to add themselves to our email distribution list (or the distribution lists of our affiliates). We should encourage them to “sign up” after we’ve talked with them and determined that they appear to be “one of us”. If an “infiltrator” signs up, wait until they’ve walked off and strike through their name or write “Acorn” next to their name. New people will identify themselves and sign up to get involved at the Fair. This goal is supported by:
i) About us – a folder providing a basic description of MCFAN
ii) Flyer – a flyer identifying up upcoming breakfast
iii) Business cards – containing our website URL, email address, phone number, etc.
iv) Literature from affiliated organizations, especially the Lorain, Stark and Summit 9.12 groups which will also be providing some of the volunteers for our booth
b) Goal #2 is to inform the public on the issues. The issues we have selected to focus on is:
i) Nationalized Health Care
ii) Cap and Trade
iii) Fiscal irresponsibility
iv) Elected Representatives voting contradictory to the will of the people
c) Goal #3 is to enable the public to exercise their power as a citizen by:
i) Expressing the theme, Make Congress, “Listen to Us” in November
ii) Pink slips for Ohio House Speaker
iii) Pink slips for Congressman
iv) Registering to vote
v) Applying to vote absentee
vi) Assisting with the Ohio Project petitions
vii) Hosting table space and assisting End Ohio Estate Tax Now petitions
viii) Providing political information upon request (e.g., helping people to identify the electoral districts in which they reside). We do not campaign (tell anyone which candidate or party to “vote for”), but we can freely state our opinion (e.g., “Since candidate A is a successful businessman and has actually created jobs, I think he is a lot more capable of doing that in Congress than candidate B, who has never run a business”). There are no legal restrictions on have an opinion and giving, especially if asked. We will have district maps available.
d) Goal #4 is to energize our supporters by selling T-Shirts, decals, flags, American heritage books, etc. 5000 Year Leap bookmarks are free; pocket constitutions are available at cost (25 cents) and the 5000 Year Leap books are available at cost ($5.00). Our yard signs are $5.00 apiece. Other items must have prices marked.
e) Table space will be at a premium; roughly 1/3 will be for signup & petition, 1/3 for sales, 1/3 for literature. Anything that can go to the back table to be given upon request, should go there. The cash box must be on the back table.
8) Tips on citizen advocacy
a) If someone asks you a serious question answer as best you can using moderation, well known facts and common sense – don’t assume that they know (or should know) as much about the issues as we do (if they did, they would be in the booth with us)!
b) Please be sure to write down any questions you can’t answer with confidence, and get the person’s name, email or phone number. Put it in the Donate bucket. We’ll get an answer to them.
c) If you are “interviewed” by anyone, use it as another opportunity to educate the public; if they are a member of the news media, speak to the people who will be listening or watching at home, not to the reporter.
d) If you get a “setup question” (e.g., “when did you stop beating your wife”?) answer the question you wish you had been asked (e.g., “The Cap and Trade bill is bad for Ohio; it is going to increase our energy costs, increase unemployment and increase taxes – Cap and Trade is a bad bill and it is bad for Ohio”).
9) Stockouts
a) Let us know we start running low on any supplies so that we can replenish ASAP
10) Good ideas
a) We consistently get great ideas from our volunteers. If you have one, let us know!