list, Sedalia, Missouri now has its own Person of the Year Award and the 2013 competition isn’t even close.
There are seven nominees but the man who brought national attention to the Missouri State Fair this summer is running away with more than half of the votes.
Tuffy Gessling, better known as Tuffy the Clown, is a rodeo clown who wore a mask of President Obama at the fair, asking those in the crowd if they wanted to see the president gored by a bull.
The Sedalia Person of the Year is the idea of KIX 105.7 disc jockey Rob Edwards. Edwards says Person of the Year titles are not necessarily about the nice guys, they belong to those who had the biggest impact and Tuffy fit the bill.
So far, Edwards has not spoken with Gessling but says he knows about the nomination because people have shared it with him on his Facebook page.
“I think that’s another reason why he’s doing so well, he actually has a lot of fans, believe it or not,” Edwards says. “I’ve met him a few times, he seems like a cool guy.”
Far behind Gessling are several popular Sedalians.
“Several people were, you know, just upstanding people in the community,” Edwards explains. “We have Bill Malone who is a business owner and just does a lot with charities. Kevin Walker does a lot in the community, takes pictures. Just a few people who do a lot with charities.”
Running second to Gessling is the Sedalia Police Department’s STING unit. Voting for the contest ends Thursday.
Edwards says that in Sedalia, the state fair is of great importance each year.
“It was a hugely hot topic around here, I mean it was national news too, but I think that’s why people vote for him, because he brought national attention, for better or for worse.”
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/12/16/tuffy-the-clown-leads-sedalia-person-of-the-year-voting/
