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Hundreds of people began lining up in the dark and the fog at the Brookfield warehouse store Saturday morning in anticipation of a book signing with Hillary Clinton.
The first to arrive actually showed up Friday evening. Eric Bosco-Schmidt and his husband, Tony, came with their kids Maya and Tyler – along with plenty of snacks and a toy pirate ship.
"It's exciting that this is happening," said Eric, a Brookfield resident. "We were so shocked by the outcome of the election. We had PTSD."
He said they wanted Clinton, who won the popular vote but lost the presidential election to Donald Trump, to know "we care for her and we support her."
One highlight for the kids? The delivery of chocolate chip cookies and water — courtesy of Costco — as they awaited the noon-time event.
Maya came to the line straight from the Brookfield High football game. And her brother and his friend, Eric, kept themselves busy with the pirate ship.
As a Brookfield police officer went by the kids, he asked if they needed anything. They jokingly shouted out, "Starburst!"
The officer returned with a gift of a bag of candy.
"Their eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning," said Eric's dad, Carlos Rogers of Brookfield. "It was so kind."
Many people in the line had stories to share of supporting Clinton, voting for her and even working on the presidential campaign.
Many people in the line had stories to share of supporting Clinton, voting for her and even working on the presidential campaign.
Cindy Wolfe Boynton of Milford, president of the Connecticut chapter of NOW, the National Organization for Women, ran a field office for Clinton in both the primary and general election last year.
"I couldn't be this close and not see her," Wolfe Boynton said. Her father died in July 2016 and working on the campaign "kept me from curling up into a ball and crying. It got me out of bed each day."
Her father was a die-hard Republican, but before he died, he told her that he planned to vote for Clinton – a Democratic vote just that one time.
"I believe in her values and what she stood for in our country," Wolfe Boynton said.
While the crowd waited, security, police and Secret Service patrolled the line and set up security to enter the store.
Hillary Clinton was due to arrive at noon and was expected to sign over 1,500 copies of her new memoir, "What Happened," at the event.
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