The Montana Shrugged Group

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BOOKSTORE URGES AUTOGRAPH SEEKERS TO COME PREPARED

Long line likely at Billings book tour stop despite Tuesday’s subzero forecast

So, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, with temperatures forecast at 6 degrees below zero, will there still be a long pre-dawn line for wristband passes to Sarah Palin’s book signing?

“You betcha,” say Palin fans, who will vie for a limited number of slots to the former Republican vice presidential nominee’s noon appearance Dec. 8 at Borders Books in Billings.

“We’re going to probably have that big Kodiak pickup flagged up around midnight,” said Eric Olson of the conservative group Montana Shrugged. “The doors open at 9 a.m. to get the rubber bands.”

Clutching copies of the politician’s book, “Going Rogue,” Palin fans have marched by the thousands to her bookstore appearances in cities where she and GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain fared well in 2008. The gathering may look more like the movie “March of the Penguins” in Billings, where below-zero temperatures are forecast for Monday night into Tuesday.

Borders is advising autograph seekers to be prepared. It’s uncertain whether accommodations will be made for chilled customers.

“We’ll be working with the varied security teams. They’re really going to lead the show on what will happen,” said Beth O’Connor, event marketing manager for Borders Group Inc.

O’Connor clarified a few misunderstandings about the event. There will be fewer than 1,000 wristbands issued to customers wanting books signed. At earlier stops in the tour, 1,000 wristbands were made available, but the sheer number of books to be signed was overwhelming.

Crowd size has been challenging at several Palin stops. The former Alaskan governor had to quit a 5-kilometer Thanksgiving Day race in Kennewick, Wash., after the mass of onlookers gathered at the finish line proved too much, according to the Tri-Cities Herald. She had announced her race participation on Twitter.

The Billings event will last longer than an hour, O’Connor said, although the appearance isn’t totally open-ended. Palin has another scheduled book signing stop the same day at 7 p.m. in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Only copies of “Going Rogue” purchased at Borders’ will be signed in Billings. Customers must present a receipt proving the book as purchased at Borders. Palin’s pen will touch only copies of her book. Other memorabilia won’t be signed.

Cameras, cell phones and other recording devices won’t be allowed. O’Connor said customers will have to put their belongings in a box before approaching Palin. Everything will be returned at the end of the procession.

“We just ask that they respect the guidelines and the faster they go, the more opportunities we’ll have for the book line,” O’Connor said.

After passing by Palin, customers with wristbands will be given signed books. However, the book they’re given might not be the one they brought.

Make no mistake, the appearance is all about signing books, say Republicans who would like to have scheduled something with Palin were it possible.

“This book tour, it seems like everything is being controlled by the publisher,” said Will Deschamps, Montana Republican Party chairman. “Our information was that under no uncertain terms would there be a wagon for us to hitch ourselves.”

Still, Olson was hopeful.

“She’s getting pretty bold,” Olson said. “Every stop she makes she talks a little more.”

Montana Shrugged, a 10-month-old group known for showing up en masse for political rallies, would do its best to get as many people in line for wristbands as possible, Olson said. Those who don’t get in will rally on King Avenue around the flag-decorated Kodiak, a stock General Motors truck so big Hummer drivers have to look up to see inside the cab.

If it gets too cold, the group might add a fifth-wheel trailer for warmth, anything to get to what for many will be the hottest item this Christmas.

 

Original Article may be found at http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_f6c86d14-e09e-11de-988b-001cc4c002e0.html

TOM LUTEY Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Friday,

December 4, 2009 12:15 am

Posted in Local, Top-headlines on Friday, December 4, 2009 12:15 am Updated: 9:29 am