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And Michelle Obama’s Park City swag bag contained . . .

by Jay Hamburger THE PARK RECORD

Michelle Obama hauled in more than campaign donations for her husband when she visited the Park City area on Tuesday for a fundraiser.

She left with a swag bag full of Park City-themed goodies.

Giving swag bags is a time-honored tradition in Park City that reaches its height each year during the Sundance Film Festival as corporate interests weigh down celebrities with beauty products, clothes and assorted other items, sometimes putting thousands of dollars worth of goodies into the bags.

The swag bag given to the first lady might not have impressed a Hollywood starlet, but it was loaded with items that represent the community she briefly stopped in while on the campaign trail.

Mayor Dana Williams, who attended the Tuesday event at the private Colony home of a Democratic fundraising figure, said the goodies in the swag bag were donated in the days before she visited. No taxpayer money was spent, he said.

Williams said he gave the gifts, which were put into a tote bag, to a Secret Service agent when he arrived. The first lady saw them when she got to the house, the mayor said.

"I hope they look at it and it captures the spirit in which it was intended lighthearted, fun and showing what Park City’s all about," the mayor said.

The swag bag contained:

  • two Park Silly Sunday Market Frisbees, intended for Bo, the White House dog. The Silly Market represents "the funk of our town," the mayor said.
  • approximately six T-shirts from Park City-area not-for-profit organizations, provided to the first lady to give to daughters Sasha and Malia
  • four Park City-themed books. They were: "Park City ~ Past & Present," "Park City: Mountain of Treasure," "First Tracks A Century of Skiing in Utah" and "Park City DogTown USA."
  • a framed photograph of the iconic McPolin Farm barn, decorated with the giant American flag that hangs from the front
  • a bottle of High West Barreled Manhattan from the High West Distillery

    The mayor put into the swag bag a handwritten letter inviting the Obama family to vacation in Park City. He said a member of the first lady’s staff told him she especially liked the framed photograph.

    The leader of the Silly Market said she is honored that the mayor put the Frisbees into the swag bag. Kimberly Kuehn, the co-founder and the executive director of the Silly Market, said she provided a green Frisbee and a pink Frisbee.

    "Every presidential dog should have a Park Silly Sunday Market Frisbee," Kuehn said, saying inclusion in the swag bag is "pretty cool."

    David Perkins, the proprietor of High West Distillery, said the bottle of Barreled Manhattan given to the first lady retails for $49.99. He said it is "downright cool" to be included. Perkins said the liquor could perhaps ease some of the tensions in Washington, D.C., as the president and Speaker of the House John Boehner continue their difficult budget negotiations.

    "Maybe it will get these guys to relax a little on their positions," Perkins said.


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