SIGNS OF THE TIMES: BARN TESTAMENT TO PAST AND FUTURE ELECTIONS

BENTON, Mo. -- Signs hanging from a weathered barn along U.S. 61 just outside the Benton city limits announce to passersby the names of Scott County candidates past and present.

"You'll see a lot of signs if you travel the roads," said Jim Eftink, Democratic Party chairman for the county. Some of the signs on the barn are probably covered by other, newer signs, he added.

Nearly every candidate who's ever run for office in the past 10 years has hung a sign on the old barn owned by Marie Robert.

Her husband, Gus, always let people put the signs up when election time rolled around, said H.J. "Cotton" Holyfield.

Holyfield is a former Scott County treasurer now running for public administrator. He's done more grass-roots campaigning than strategically placing signs around the county.

"I've talked to people and knocked on doors, which you do from the start, but you have to know a lot of people," said Holyfield of Sikeston. "You can't spend a lot of money running for this job."

And the signs cost a lot of money.

Sheriff Bill Ferrell has his share of signs plastered to the barn but Ferrell doesn't much care for them.

"They are too expensive and you have to spend your money early" to get them printed and put out. It's during the last weeks of the campaign that you need that money, he said.

Posting political signs seems to run in trends, said Ferrell, a 24-year veteran of the sheriff's office. "The first time I ran I had a few large signs at the major intersections and smaller ones on the rural roads," he said. "Now it's a sign war."

Sonny Alcorn agrees. He plans to take down his political signs advertising his bid for countywide office as soon as the polls close Aug. 8.

With a rodeo coming to town immediately after the election, Alcorn thinks the signs will look tacky. But in the meantime, he's bought billboards along South Main Street in Sikeston and placed signs around the area announcing his bid for district commissioner. Alcorn is currently the county's public administrator.

Since every candidate in Scott County filed as a Democrat, the primary race is the only contested election, which means voters will decide all the races in Scott County when they head to the polls Aug. 8.

It also means candidates have put up thousands of yard signs, slapped bumper stickers on vehicles, hauled signs to major intersections and -- most importantly -- made the rounds at town picnics, fairs and coffee shops hoping to earn a few more votes than their opponents..

Sharon Merideth, a newcomer to the political campaign scene, likes the community gatherings. Merideth, of Sikeston, is making her first bid for public office in a four-way race for public administrator.

A sign for district commissioner candidate Jamie Burge is posted in her front yard and a magnetic sign announcing her candidacy is attached to a black Thunderbird that sits in her driveway.

Having the chance to meet a candidate face-to-face often helps to win votes, Eftink said. As the candidates walk the towns and meet people at picnics, "you'll see the signs go up."

Just displaying a yard sign doesn't truly make for an active Democratic party supporter, he said. Historically, it's been easier to get people involved in county politics than it is now.

Since it has become even easier to get voters registered, the push is now getting them to the polls.