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Desperately Seeking Obama

Tribune photo by GREG FIGHT

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama greets Parkesdale Farm Market employee Violet Rodgers during his unannounced visit Friday to the store in Plant City

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By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 1, 2008

PLANT CITY - Natalie Sweet wandered into Parkesdale Farm Market to pick up a few green peppers. She was about to leave with a whole lot more.

Sweet didn't know that, though, as she poked through the bins of produce, filling a red basket with dinner fixings.

Neither did the four ladies from Sun City Center who finished off a day of downtown shopping with ice cream cones at the famous strawberry emporium down the road from the Florida Strawberry Festival.

No one seemed to notice the guy in the black suit who swept through the market, glancing under tables, peeking discreetly behind potted plumbagos before vanishing around a corner.

No earpiece that I could see, but Secret Service, I decided, slipping my reporter's notebook beneath my purse on the table in front of me.

I sat a few feet from the Sun City quartet, sucking down a strawberry shake, waiting for the feathers to hit the fan.

It's a rough job; someone's gotta do it.

Rumor had it that Barack Obama was going to pay a visit to Parkesdale en route to Lakeland. Rumor also had it that the media - other than the press corps that rode with his campaign entourage – was not invited.

Suddenly I had a powerful hankering for a strawberry shake. It happens.

Parkesdale is a major destination for visitors from around the world. It's a huge, sprawling mélange of fruits and vegetables and plants and people – a campaign strategist's dream, a Secret Service agent's security nightmare.

A down-home photo op of Obama pressing unscheduled flesh was doable. If word leaked out, though, drawing the masses to this little, unsecurable patch of Plant City, the stop would be cancelled. Or so the rumor went.

I sipped and waited today. Friday casual had taken the form of spandex running tights, sneakers and my favorite barn T-shirt: "May the Horse Be With You." I figured no one was going to take me for a reporter.

No one except John Dicks, former mayor of Plant City and current Democratic candidate for Congress. I've covered Dicks since the mid-1990s, when he was on the board of trustees for Hillsborough Community College.

Busted.

Dicks strolled in shortly before 2 p.m. He nodded pleasantly and stationed himself near the Parkesdale entrance. Outside a steady drizzle soaked the streets. A breeze ruffled the soggy American flag that flies in front of the market, rain or shine.

A dozen or so customers browsed the aisles, oblivious to the fact that a cadre of men in black suits with crew cuts and earpieces had materialized in the front parking lot. Traffic that had been humming past on U.S. 92 disappeared. State troopers had blocked the road approaching Parkesdale in both directions.

I joined Dicks at the place where he apparently was situated to greet the presidential candidate. We talked about gas prices and oil profits and alternative energy.

"This will be our generation's Apollo project," he said.

The men in black suits gazed westward and a big black bus swooped into the parking lot. The press corps disembarked clutching notepads and hefting TV cameras high on shoulders as an Obama aide lined them up behind rows of squash and cabbage.

I leaned against a pole not far from where they came streaming in. One reporter broke from the pack momentarily.

"You're a reporter, aren't you?" he demanded.

"Do I look like a reporter?" I replied.

He studied the curious message on my T-shirt, the running pants, the New Balance sneakers.

"The pad's a dead giveaway," he finally said, falling back in line with the entourage and taking his place in the containment area.

I stayed where I was, taking notes, but not too earnestly lest someone from the Obama camp notice and toss me out or into containment.

Finally the familiar lanky black figure emerged from the bus and greeted Dicks.

"I'm gonna ride your coattails," Obama told Dicks.

"No, sir," said Dicks. "I'm gonna ride on yours."

My pen scribbled on and a young woman tapped me on the shoulder. Her name is Sam and she said she's been with the Obama campaign "since the beginning, since Springfield."

"Are you a reporter?" she inquired, looking dubiously at my attire.

Busted again.

I took my place behind the radishes and celery just as Obama stepped up to the cash register and asked Parkesdale owner Jim Meeks for a strawberry shortcake.

Earlier, I had contemplated how Obama might take his shortcake, when presented with the myriad variations Parkesdale offers: Would he choose whipped topping or ice cream? With or without sponge cake? Sugarless or sugared? Or would the presumptive Democratic nominee settle on a large bowl of pure Plant City berries – no frills.

Alas, we will never know because berry season will not commence here for several weeks and it will be December before Parkesdale begins offering the shortcakes that have made it famous.

Meeks, who had learned only 10 minutes before of the auspicious visit, offered his guest the next best thing – a Parkesdale strawberry shake.

"I'll take 50," Obama said.

Meeks disappeared and returned with a single shake.

"This is your good luck charm," Meeks told Obama. "This must be a lucky place 'cause anybody that's ever come here got elected."

Meeks counts former Gov. Jeb Bush and both President Bushes among the candidates who paid Parkesdale a visit on the way to higher office. Their photos are prominently enshrined at the market.

"This is my first Democrat," said Meeks, who presented Obama with two giant baskets of peaches.

The candidate thanked him for the gesture, but insisted he must pay for them.

"These people will report I took a gift," he told Meeks, nodding to the reporters that swirled among the produce.

An excited Violet Rodgers, 47, rang up Obama's purchase: 50 strawberry shakes, 50 pounds of peaches and a 1/4-bushel of Valencia oranges. Total: $124.37.

The candidate shuffled through a wad of bills and came up short. He turned to an aide. "You guys gotta help me out," he said. "I'll pay you back when we get back on the bus."

Rodgers took the bills and could contain herself no longer. "I'm going to be voting the first time in my life in this election," she told him. "I'm going to vote for you."

Obama responded with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Meanwhile, the Sun City quartet and other Parkesdale visitors – outnumbered by the press by 2-1 - gathered around to meet the candidate.

Jerry Lofstrom was one of those who happened in just before the Secret Service locked down the neighborhood.

"I came for some bananas – 39 cents a pound, the cheapest price in town. It was quite a surprise," he said of the opportunity to speak with the candidate at the local farm market.

Meeks' 2-month-old granddaughter, Piper, also got some face time with Obama as her parents videoed the candidate cradling her.

And Sweet, who had come to the market with dinner on her mind, left with peppers to stuff and a tale to tell for some time to come.

"It's so exciting to just walk in a place and have this happen," she said. "I really wanted his autograph, but I was embarrassed to ask. I'll just pretend I got it anyway."

Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813)865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.

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