By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

What do you get when you put together a small stuffed elephant, some “bling” and a financial consultant?

A group of people from Savage who were involved in the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this past week.

Ella’s adventures

Robert Thibodeaux was making his way around the convention area with Ella, a small stuffed elephant that belongs to his daughter Tori. He carried Ella with him when he was an alternate delegate for Minnesota four years ago when the RNC was in New York City. This time around, Thibodeaux was at the St. Paul convention as a guest of the Minnesota delegation.

He carries Ella around as a conversation starter.

“She is a way to meet people from different places – not just to get their name, but to really get to know them and find out something interesting I didn’t know,” he said.

A big part of the “Ella experience,” as Thibodeaux puts it, is taking her picture with everyone he meets.

During the first few days of the convention, those included the famous – like Miss Texas -- to the everyday folks, like a contingent of Moms who support McCain and were wearing T-shirts that formed a message when they all stood together. Thibodeaux is chronicling Ella’s adventures at www.savagepacer.com.

Ella’s biggest moment came on Wednesday (Sept. 3), when GOP Presidential nominee John McCain and his wife Cindy came into to a room in the Minneapolis Civic Center, where volunteers were packaging up hygiene supplies to send to the Gulf Coast area in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

“All of the sudden we see giant crowds coming our way and there was John McCain, going to every table and shaking hands,” Thibodeaux explained.

Ella was “supervising” the work at his table, so Thibodeaux picked her up and asked McCain to have his picture taken with her. Although McCain reached for Ella to oblige the request, Secret Service agents would not allow it; so instead, Thibodeaux held Ella and posed with McCain.

“He was very ‘Ella-like’ in his demeanor,” Thibodeaux said of the experience, “Ella was impressed with how nice he was, because he went from table to table, shaking people’s hands, asking their names and having short conversations with them.”

Alternate delegate

Chris Andryski of Savage was at the convention as an alternate delegate for Congressional District 2. He was teamed up with fellow alternate delegate Joe Rypka of Eagan and they were taking turns coming down on the floor with the official delegation to help out where needed.

Since this was his first time at a national convention, Andryski wasn’t sure what to expect, but said it was exciting to be there, in spite of all the changes in the schedule.

“I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to see President Bush speak (in person), because it is exciting to see any sitting president speak, no matter what political party he is a part of,” Andryski said.

Andryski was elected to the alternate position at the District 2 convention and had to give a speech to the delegation. In it, he talked about his life experiences -- from being born to an unwed mother, to becoming an adopted son, to being raised in Germany and to becoming a U.S. citizen when he was 28 years old.

He also spoke about his service in the U.S. Army as an enlisted soldier, about how he used the G.I. Bill to get his education and his experience in starting his own CPA business in Burnsville.

Civic Fest

While her husband Robert was busy taking in the RNC, Kay Thibodeaux was working at Civic Fest at the Minneapolis Convention Center in the marketplace area in a booth selling Fifth Avenue Collection jewelry.

When she went with Robert to New York four years ago, there was also a marketplace connected with the RNC, so she knew when St. Paul was chosen that it would be a perfect place to promote and sell her Fifth Avenue Collection jewelry.

Her hottest seller was an elephant pin, USA necklaces and a variety of jewelry that featured American Flags.

At Civic Fest, Thibodeaux not only mingled with other vendors, but the entire family took in the attractions, like the miniature replica of the White House, a collection of gowns of First Ladies, displays of flags and other historical memorabilia and touring a partial replica of Air Force One.

Thibodeaux was joined at her booth by friend Lori Provencher of Nashville, Tenn., who was perplexed by people in the crowd who kept saying they were going “up north” for the Labor Day weekend.

“I hate to tell y’all, but you’re about as far north as you can git,” she said, “Where else you gonna go – Canada?”

Provencher and Thibodeaux visited people passing their booth and showing off the Fifth Avenue Collection jewelry they were sporting.

“Before I started selling this line, I wasn’t much into wearing all this ‘bling,’” Thibodeaux said, “But now it’s part of what I do.”

 Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.