Yesterday was my Dad's birthday.  So what better gift to give to give him but an autographed copy of Glenn Beck's latest book?  It was a busy day for me to begin with not to mention the hoopla surrounding Beck's arrival.

Beck came to The Villages yesterday to unveil his plan to save America.  An enthusiastic crowd of 25,000 people were there to greet him and to listen to what Beck had to say.  We'd been hearing for days that he had a plan to save the Republic and inquiring minds like mine wanted to know what he had in mind. 

I went down with my husband via golf cart about noon to get my wristband guaranteeing me a place in line later in the day to meet with Beck and have his book signed.  Bringing the golf cart was a great idea because we had great parking driving the cart where they wouldn't allow cars to go.  Since I bought his latest book earlier in the week I didn't have to stop by the book tent.  So that saved me some time as well as the short walk from the cart. 

I then got in a line of roughly 500-600 people and after about a half hour had a yellow C wristband firmly attached to my left wrist by a Fox News person.  I was good to go.  Many people were camping out right in front of the stage with blankets, babies and lots of food.  I could have parked myself right there and had a great front row spot to stay.  Since he wasn't going to speak until about 3:30 and we had lots to do back home we left to return later in the day.  That's three hours of better spent elswhere time so we left. 

About 3 pm we got on our bikes and rode the 3 miles or so into the square, parked our bikes and looked around at the massive amount of people.  Unbelievable.  Although not as many turned out as they did for Sarah Palin last summer. 

We spent about a half hour walking around trying to get the best vantage point we could.  We settled on a little raised brick island with lots of greenery and a couple of small trees to lean against.  We could see directly in front of us, not only the stage at about 100 feet away, but also a huge screen to see Beck closeup. 

After a few patriotic songs including Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" Beck's big long black bus arrived.  I wasn't impressed that he was a good 20 minutes or so late.  He was greeted by huge cheers, hugs and handshakes all the way up to the stage. 

He looked good and was animated per usual.  He spoke about 45 minutes.  He spoke about our country, patriotism, his belief in God and how we need to get back to our roots.  He spoke about being responsible, accountable, and getting our lives in order for what he is proposing to do.  He wants us to be finanacial, physically and spiritually strong for the coming days ahead.  He urged us to go back to our places of worship even.  He spoke about the sinking of our nation using the analogy of the Titanic saying we need to get into the lifeboats.  He spoke about how this whole corruption and sinking of our ship has been about 100 years in the making.  It didn't happen overnight.  It's time for corruption to end.  It needs to end with us for the sake of our children.

He plans on having seven conventions across the country.  The first will be held in March 2010 at the UCF arena.  He wants to end his conventions with a march on Washington on August 28 at the Lincoln Memorial to present the group's platform to the country's leaders.  I'm thinking something like the tea party idea but kicked into higher gear.   He said we could go to his site and request a spot for one of his conventions. 

The conventions are going to be lengthy; an all day affair.  This day will be about teaching America about history, economics and government among other stuff. 

So after he spoke they called out the wristbands by color.  First they called red and blue and then pink and then yellow.  So I had to wait about an hour or so.  Then when my color was called I had to push my way thru the thick crowd with my wristband wrapped arm up in the air so others could see.  "Yellow C coming though."  

When I finally made it up to the table after weaving through a series of lines there he was.  By this time it was close to 6 pm.  He had sweat rolling down his face and he was signing books at a record speed.  I never saw anyone sign books so fast as he.  He took my hand, looked me directly in the eye with a warm smile and said "thank you."  By the night's end he would have signed about 2,000 books. 

And that was it.  The last time Beck came here I didn't even know who he was.  The events he put on then were sold out in a very short time. 

My dad who watches Beck religiously every night at 5pm turned 71 yesterday.  He will receive a book signed by his favorite Fox News personality on his birthday. 

The lengths a daughter won't go to for the sake of her Dad!  Happy Birthday Dad!