Newsmessenger - Getting Political in Chalk Town

Well, congratulations are in order to the new President. I've never been one to be overly political, but this time I have a vested interest. After all, I'm part of the family. No, I'm not talking about the president of the United States; I'm talking about the President of Chalk Town! Elections were held for the Chalk Town presidency this past weekend and my oldest won in what I have to assume was the closest election in Chalk Town history, 4 to 3.

Thankfully all three of her siblings were voting, along with one of the neighbors who had just had after school snack at our house. So while the cost of the vote was relatively inexpensive, I believe a fruit snack and a juice box to be exact, she was definitely on the take. I guess one could say we were trying to teach our kids a lesson in how real politics work.

Actually I need to clean something up. As my wife was reading this article over my shoulder, she informed me that I could actually be thrown in the Chalk Town jail for referring to it as Chalk Town. I guess it was renamed “Great Falls” recently, most likely in honor of the many great falls that have taken place by the residents when they were learning to ride their bikes on this very court.

For those of you who aren't up on Chalk Town, I mean Great Falls history; it was founded a few months ago by the kids of my court after somebody received a bucket of chalk as gift at a birthday party. The kids went crazy with the chalk and before you knew it a full fledged town had emerged, complete with restaurants, a post office and a pretty nice set of houses and well kept roads.

And while the real economy is continuing to take a bath, Great Falls was thriving as my wife found a few more tubs of chalk at Target's recent 90% off sale. If only the real economy was this easy to fix. It was clear Great Falls needed a leader, and my niece won an unopposed election and was a wonderful president, until the floods of March 09 hit. Yes, the rains fell, and so did the Great Falls infrastructure, like, well, chalk down a storm drain. But with the end of Spring along came the re-emergence of Great Falls and elections were once again in order.

My daughter was quite impressive actually. She ran on a platform of growth. “A weather report in every email inbox and a new piece of chalk in every hand!” she proclaimed to the crowd more interested in whether or not our neighbor was going to finish her fruit snack or if there would be any left to pass around. Her cousin was running against her, as no term limits had yet been established in Great Falls. And unlike their presidential predecessors, no mud was slung, and it's a good thing, too, because I’m sure I would have had to clean it up.

Paper and crayons were then passed around and names were spelled over, and over, and over again to make sure the voters knew what to write on their ballots. I made sure that my wife put special emphasis on my daughter's name each time she spelled it definitely trying to sway the crowd.

And when all votes were in, we had a winner. Luckily my niece could only muster up three of her siblings for the vote, the deciding vote was the one captured by the fruit snack. Luckily she couldn't find her two oldest brothers, or we would already be planning the recount. Hail Great Falls, and let's hope that the rain in the forecast for this weekend heads North, I don’t think we’re ready for another election just yet!