This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It will cost $2,700 to have your picture taken with Hillary Clinton at her Utah fundraiser next week.
Even if you're just 5 years old.
Lifelong Utah Democrat Judy Zone was impressed with the invitation to the event, written by Michael Gilmore, a member of Clinton's 2016 National Finance Committee. He wrote about Clinton's compassion for kids, which touched Zone, a grandmother.
So when Zone indicated she wanted to attend the Aug. 5 fundraiser at a private Park City home, she said she wanted to bring her 8-year-old and 5-year-old granddaughters.
The invitation noted that attendance was $500 per person, but for a "championship level" price of $2,700, attendees could have their photo taken with Clinton.
Zone contacted Donald Dunn, a Utah volunteer for the finance committee, and asked if she could pay the $2,700 for her championship admittance, but allow her two granddaughters to be pictured with Clinton for the general admission price of $500 each.
Dunn informed her that it was $2,700 per person, no exceptions.
"It wouldn't be fair to the others," Dunn told me, "for an exception to be made to someone wanting to bring a guest."
Zone, who donates $100 a month to the Utah Democratic Party as a member of its Chair's Circle, reached out to state party boss Peter Corroon, who told me he was sympathetic to Zone's request but that it was out of his and Dunn's control.
"Whenever you have a high-profile person like that come to Utah for a fundraiser," Corroon said, "there are going to be some disagreements and misunderstandings." He suspected that Clinton, who also is a grandmother, was unaware of the national campaign's strict rules.
Dunn said he got the national committee to sign off on somewhat of a deal for Zone. If she could raise $5,000 for the event, she and her granddaughters could go to the photo session. The $5,000 would include her $2,700 admission and $500 each for the grandkids. That meant, Dunn said, Zone would have to raise $1,300 from others.
Zone declined. She also has resigned from the Democratic Party Chair's Circle.
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A personal story • The $2,700 tab for a picture with Clinton must be the result of inflation.
When she ran for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, I happened to be in Iowa visiting my daughter in summer 2007. We went to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, a vital campaign stop for the Republican and Democratic White House hopefuls.
I asked at the information booth who was speaking that morning and was told it was Hillary Clinton. So I took my 8-year-old granddaughter, Isabelle, to the venue, telling her that the speaker might be the first "girl" president ever.
That was cool to Isabelle (although she since has become a Mitt Romney enthusiast) and she responded excitedly to Clinton's speech.
Afterward, I pushed my way to the front with Isabelle on my shoulders because I wanted to get a picture of my granddaughter with Clinton, who was standing behind a makeshift fence of hay bales.
The friendly Iowa crowd noticed what I was trying to do and pitched in, passing Isabelle from one person to another until she was standing on a hay bale next to Clinton.
The candidate was engaged in a conversation with other patrons and at first didn't notice Isabelle, until folks in the crowd started yelling, "Hey, Hillary, say hello to Isabelle."
Clinton turned around, greeted the girl and I got the picture of the two together — after Isabelle had to tell me how to turn on the camera.
We still have that picture. And it was free.
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Float flubs • I mentioned Friday that Brigham Young University's Days of '47 float at one time contained the slogan "Freedom Faith Family Through Educaton [sic]."
The misspelling was fixed in time for the July 24 extravaganza, but the same float appeared in Provo's July 4 Freedom Festival Parade — with the typo, which wasn't remedied until it was noticed during a float preview at Sandy's South Towne Expo Center a few days before Pioneer Day.
At South Towne, the University of Utah float committee noticed its float had misspelled "future" — it said "futrue" — just before the preview began. A towel was draped around the goof until the design crew could fix it before the crowds arrived.