Nearly three months after Democrat Barrack Obama visited Parkesdale Farm Market, Republican John McCain made an unannounced stop of his own at the landmark business.

McCain stopped by for a shortcake and to mingle with customers about 2:40 p.m. today.

Unlike the Aug. 1 Obama visit, which caught most people by surprise, word leaked out and the market was filled with sign-waving McCain supporters by the time the bus carrying the Republican nominee pulled into the parking lot. Most people were kept outside and their only glimpse of McCain was when he stopped to shake hands.

Tara Parker, a 21-year-old student at Southeastern University in Lakeland, cut classes to attend today’s visit. “Mom, he shook my hand!” Parker said to her mother Roxanne via cell phone from the Parkesdale parking lot.

“My mom didn’t want to come because we probably wouldn’t be able to get very close,” she said.

Parkesdale prepared 150 strawberry milkshakes for the McCain entourage and they polished off 100 of them.

Jim Meeks, owner of Parkesdale, said he offered them for free but the campaign insisted on paying.

“What nice folks they were,” Meeks said. “I tried to give the money back and once again they said no. ‘We’re full pay.’ ”
Parkesdale, a short distance from the Florida Strawberry Festival grounds, is a popular haunt for politicians stumping for votes. McCain’s stop was part of a cross-state bus tour.

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