Palin's message resonates
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Dorothy Stieben said she has been a supporter of Sarah Palin ever since she heard Palin's vice presidential speech in 2008.
So the Hays resident jumped at the chance to hear Palin speak at the Salina Chamber of Commerce annual banquet Friday.
Saturday, the Hays woman was excited when she had heard she was part of history to boot.
About 6,000 people heard Palin speak at the Bicentennial Center, including about 4,500 who came to hear her talk and weren't there for the meal.
Stieben said she heard afterward that she was part of the largest ever annual chamber meeting in the United States.
"They usually have 1,200 attend, and there were 160 tables with eight at each table on the floor," Stieben said.
The remaining 4,500-plus people didn't come for the meal but instead to hear Palin speak.
Stieben's sister, Donna Metzker from Ness City, had called Stieben and told her she had tickets to hear Palin, now a political commentator for Fox News.
Do you want to tag along, Metzker asked her sister.
Coincidentally, Stieben was going to be in Salina on Friday anyway; her husband, LaVerne Stieben, is attending the Kansas Pheasants Forever State Habitat Meeting there.
Sure, said Stieben, who besides hearing Palin, thought it would be a good chance to spend some time with her sister, who friends and family call Metzker a Palin look-alike.
"It's amazing how much alike they look; they could be twins," Stieben said. "We were able to get pictures with (Palin), so we'd all stand beside Donna and say we were having our picture taken with Sarah Palin."
Palin, former governor of Alaska and Republican nominee for U.S. Vice President in 2008, warmed up to the crowd by talking about a written analysis by Salina Central High School students on President Barack Obama's State of the Union address a couple of weeks ago.
"I could just feel the warmth in the whole building," Stieben said. "Everybody supported her."
Stieben said she was impressed with motto of "getting informed and getting involved."
"We all need to hear that on a local level we need to get out and make a difference in our own communities," Stieben said.
"And we all need to hold everyone in Washington accountable for what's going on," she added
Stieben said she began following Palin when after Republican Presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate for the 2008 Presidential election.
"I fell in love with her when she delivered her vice presidential speech," Stieben said. "I'm all about family, and I was impressed how she could juggle a family with (her career)."
"It's all about common sense, and I like that approach," Stieben added. "I've been following her ever since."