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Before the speeches - Grimes speaks with Rep. Ed Whitfield.

Kentucky Supreme Court Judge Bill Cunningham "leave bad manners at home."

Graves County Sheriff consults with McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden before event.

Jerry Lundergan looking not very happy as he stands behind Graves County deputy.

Kentucky State Police officers

House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, Judge Bill Cunningham and Chair Mark Wilson

Megaphone in use - not so many as years past.

Big crowd, lots of signs, international media could have meant chaos. But it didn't.

(Fancy Farm KY, August 2, 2014) - Media organizations from as far away as Japan sent representatives to little Fancy Farm in Graves County. This “no-stoplight town” as one national paper described, grew from 500 overwhelmingly Catholic residents to 20,000 in twenty four hours.

Fancy Farm has hosted the fundraising picnic for 134 years, according to Moderator Kentucky Supreme Court Judge Bill Cunningham. In addition to being a veteran, lawyer and jurist, Cunningham also a historian with several historical books to his credit.

Cunningham told the thousands in attendance “When you come to Fancy Farm, you are brushing shoulders with history. The picnic began in 1880 when Rutherford B. Hayes was president. The start of picnic was most important thing that happened that year.”

The political speeches came later when politicians, drawn like flies to honey, began speaking to voters standing on a stump on the grounds. Changing times have brought fancier digs for the speeches and space between candidates and crowds.

This year’s Fancy Farm Picnic twin themes were security and civility.

Judge Cunningham joined Fancy Farm Picnic Political Chair Mark Wilson and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz in urging the crowd to be civil and respectful to the speakers.

In his opening remarks, Cunningham told the crowd. “The annual celebration sponsored by St Jerome is a celebration of freedom of speech. The Church is paying respect to the First Amendment and our political process.”

"You are company. Leave bad manners at the door. Be respectful of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church.”

The Judge said his favorite memory was of the last appearance of Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper and Governor A. B. “Happy” Chandler, also a very old man at the time, as they sat on the platform and patted each other on the back. They had been bitter political enemies through their careers.

Looking around, Cunningham said, “It’s hard to believe that Alison and Mitch will do that – but it can happen – and it can happen at Fancy Farm.”

New rules now ban chanting and noisemakers which, in recent years, have made speakers impossible to hear. Lines between media and public were roped off with police tape. The public was to stay in designated areas. No shoving close to the stage allowed. In past years, television cameras vied with activists for space close to the stage.

Security at the Fancy Farm Picnic was the sternest it has ever been. Police from across the Purchase were on hand. The Kentucky State Police, in their distinctive gray uniforms were everywhere. McCracken County Sheriffs Jon Hayden and Hickman County Sheriff Mark Green came to help out. Private security in wraparound sunglasses shepherded politicians onto the stage and whisked them away after their speeches were done. (See related story under “more”)

Graves County Sheriff DeWayne Redmond and his deputies began running anyone not on the media list out of the press area over an hour before the speaking began.

Police officers cleared aisles on either side of the pavilion. Or they attempted to clear aisles. A Red Sea of t-shirted partisans flowed back into the gaps as soon as the police moved on. The police also cleared visitors from the area designated for press. Sheriff Redmond moved staffers on the Grimes campaign back behind the crime scene tape that blocked off the first ten feet of the enlarged pavilion. Even with the larger venue, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate the screaming crowd.

Father of the candidate Jerry Lundergan argued with Sheriff Redmond as he tried to get closer to the stage his daughter would soon take. He and Grimes staff members stood barely outside the concrete apron as close as they could get for filming.

Yes, there was chanting. Yes, there was at least one megaphone used to cheer. (One gentleman, dressed in early American gear, wielding an anachronistic megaphone, was escorted out.) There was squeezing into the press area.

But nothing like in years past. Chalk one up to civility and security.