11/05/2006

Record-Eagle/Sheri McWhirter
Gene Seibel (left), Wayne Brown, Beverly Robinson and Ken Bur are among a group of people who meet every morning for coffee at the Big Boy Restaurant in Gaylord.

Politics are the talk of the town at Big Boy

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

GAYLORD — They always arrive before dawn, before the griddle sizzles.

There they'll sit for hours in the no-smoking section, sipping coffee and bantering over careers, families and hobbies.

Politics, too, are a recurring theme these days for the regulars at Big Boy Restaurant in Gaylord. The Nov. 7 election looms, and topics bounce from the war in Iraq to the state governor's race, to the pros and cons of dove hunting, a state ballot measure that's ruffled Jerry Campbell's feathers.

Campbell, 71, of Gaylord, said he's dead-set against a hunting season for doves.

"Next thing I know, some turkey will be in my front yard, shooting my doves and hummingbirds and everything else," Campbell said. "But not this one. He's for the dove hunting."

He motioned across the table to his friend, Ken Bur, 70, of Gaylord, a retired state trooper.

"I should be able to hunt them if I want to. I won't do it, but it's my right," Bur said.

Campbell fired back: "I told you that you can hunt ducks and grouse and whatever else, already."

Campbell mentions the Michigan governor's race.

"I've heard some proposals and a lot of dirt. I want them to just stand up and say what they believe and how to get there," he said.

The "lip service shtick" from both Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Republican challenger Dick DeVos, grew old weeks ago, Campbell said.

The conversation moved to what Campbell called "a tremendous divide in our nation," the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a recent commercial in support of stem cell research that featured Michael J. Fox.

"I think they should do it because I think there's a lot of possibilities in that field," Bur said.

That's when Louise Kleinsorge, 60, of Gaylord, chimed in from across a wooden table divider.

"That issue shouldn't be a political issue," she said.

Kleinsorge said the worst thing about the weeks before an election is the political campaign phone calls at home.

"It's so rude. I mean, it's all tape-recorded. I'll make my own decision. I don't need these phone calls. I just hang up," she said, and gathered her newspaper to head off to work.

Gene Seibel, 61, of Gaylord, another retired state trooper, claimed her empty seat. He said he's not entirely prepared for Tuesday's election.

"I haven't totally decided on things. I haven't really looked at all the issues and that's how I vote. I'm an independent," Seibel said.

But Seibel said he opposes the dove hunting proposal.

"Me too. Just don't shoot the birds. It's not like you can eat them," said Beverly Robinson, 65, from Gaylord.

That's when Neil Wilkinson, 43, of Gaylord, piped up and said, "who said anything about eating them? We shoot pheasants all the time and don't eat them. I don't like to limit anything I can shoot," he said.

Finally, Wayne Brown, 71, of Gaylord, arrived at the coffee circle and said he needed a cup or two before talking about politics. Ultimately, he said the state would be in much better shape if it could have all the campaign advertising money spent on the governor's race.

Brown said he plans to vote for DeVos and against Proposal 5, the education funding proposition.

"That's because the money would not go where it should be. It's going to end up in the pension funds," he said.

Around 8:30 a.m., the group gathered up their coats and headed to the cash register.

"You know, if the politicians in this country wanted to know what the people of the country want, what's important to them, they just have to find a coffee shop with five or six guys sitting around. They'll tell them exactly what they need to do," Campbell said.