President

Today was bizarre.

Today I stood fifty feet from President Bush, and today I met the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

I guess I'd better explain this one...

My bluegrass band, Last Road, was invited to play a barbecue lunch fundraiser for Lindsey Graham in Columbia, where President Bush was in attendance. The event was held at the Millwood Plantation, the site of Civil War General Wade Hampton's home, which was burned by Sherman. There were probably a few hundred in attendance, including all the movers and shakers in the South Carolina Republican party. Among those I recognized from SC state offices were Governor Mark Sanford, Senators Lindsey Graham (of course!) and Jim DeMint, and Congressmen Bob Inglis and Gresham Barrett.

Our band played from maybe 9:30 until a little before 11:00, followed by our guitar player Benji Merritt singing the national anthem. A few more announcements were made, then Lindsey Graham said a few words, and then we played a bit more. At one point we heard helicopters, and someone said that was the President landing on the grounds. A few minutes later, President Bush was introduced and greeted the crowd. I was probably not 50 or 60 feet away while he spoke for 20 or 30 minutes. It was probably the only time in my life when I'll be in the same room with the President of the United States!

Interestingly, ex-pro wrestler Ric Flair is apparently a big contributor to the Graham campaign, and he was there with his wife. My boys grew up watching wrestling on TV, so I was somewhat familiar with "the Nature Boy". We walked over to his table and briefly said hello. It was funny because you could see all the young guys in attendance pointing to Ric Flair and going "whoooooo!". You wrestling types will know what I'm referring to!

Anyhow, it was a great event, a great opportunity for our band to play for an appreciative audience, and a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear the President speak live and in person. Sometime this weekend, I'll tell a little bit about what George W had to say in his speech...it was very interesting.

Certainly a day I won't soon forget!