Well this is long, but here is my report as I was there!
I first heard about Dan's Bake Sale from a girlfriend. Her dad volunteered for a local youth organization and the weekend before he was talking about setting up a booth to sell hot dogs and hamburgers as a fundraiser. Then of course I tuned into Rush's radio show and heard Rush talk about it. No one really knew how many people were going to show up, or any protests, etc.?
The Friday evening before the bake sale I went to the Old Town Square and met a lot of nice people that had arrived early. It was either an older crowd or young couples and small business owners that had driven in. I remember one young guy and his wife told me that they had a business in Idaho and had just gotten in their car and drove to Fort Collins. Some entrepreneurial college guys were selling t-shirts. I bought a t-shirt for a friend of mine from Sacramento that originally introduced me to Rush's radio show. The t-shirt said, "I ate cookies with Rush Limbaugh at Dan's Bake Sale, Fort Collins, CO." He was thrilled when I sent it to him.
The next day I arrived early and went by the booth my girlfriend's dad had setup. There were a lot of people early! The booth was doing well selling food and fortunately they planned well and brought a lot. There were a lot of other booths as well, selling mostly sweets since it was a bake sale.
While walking around that morning I shook hands with Bo Snerdley who was dressed in a brown suit (which it was a hot, hot day). He was really nice and friendly with a great laugh.
Then later I went and found a spot under a tree to wait for Rush to appear at the center of the square. It was a little after Noon when some clouds came over the square and rain fell for about minute which was actually nice as it cooled things off. Then the the sun and the Colorado blue sky came back out, which as soon as it did the Fort Collins police appeared with several horses and guys on foot, and between them was Rush.
The police brought Rush up on stage which I was about 15 feet from. Rush had some funny remarks about the event and was thrilled with the size of the crowd as in all four directions the streets were packed. Dan and him then exchanged payment for his newsletter subscription. Rush spoke for about ten minutes and made a few Clinton jokes. As I recall he said something to the effect that if he had been Clinton, instead of leaving with just the $19.95 for a newsletter subscription, he would be leaving with everyone's wallets.
Like I said, everyone was very pleasant and it was a great, friendly crowd. I again talked with other people during the event and they were from all over including as far as Florida. It was a very respectful crowd. No protesters showed up or anyone out to make trouble. However the local/Denver media that showed up to cover it found some teenage "punk rockers" several streets over supposedly protesting (I don't think they actually knew who Rush was?!).
I shot this picture the following day. As I recall hearing a local businessman paid to have this billboard put up.
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