Big Romney rally expected in Defiance - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Northwest Ohio has obviously been getting a lot of visits from both campaigns as election day inches closer. 13abc was the first to report that Governor Romney will be in Defiance on Thursday.

The Romney victory rally is Thursday night at the Defiance High School football stadium. The campaign is paying to rent the stadium and Romney will have a couple of big name country music stars with him for the rally.

Politics aside, it seems like the whole town is excited about being one of the stops on the campaign trail. Normally, the grounds crew at Defiance High School is getting the field ready for the Bulldogs to play football. This week they have to get it ready for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney first. Thousands of people are expected on the field for the rally.

Getting ready for the Romney rally is a big job. Mike Guilford says grounds crews will spend about 17 hours between now and Thursday night getting the field prepped and then the football team has a home game Friday night, "It's actually senior night on Friday, so it is the last time our seniors will play on the field, so we'll be here about 6am Friday to start rolling the field and painting it and touching it up. Do you think you'll be able to get it back in shape? We'll try our best. It will no doubt be a lot of work? Yes it will!"

There's also a lot of work being done at GOP headquarters in downtown Defiance. Amy Galbraith is the chair of the Defiance County Republican Party,"People are excited, they want to know how to get tickets, how many they can pick up, if they can bring their kids because they want their children to be part of the event. Older people want to make sure they'll be able to get in. They are all excited, we'll have everybody there."

Some say it doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, it's just nice to be a witness to history. Defiance Mayor Bob Armstrong is a Democrat, " I am anxious to have the campaign here and to hear his side of the story, to help people make up their minds on election day. I am a Democrat and I am looking forward to seeing him and meeting him."

Karl Kissner owns a popular Defiance restaurant,"This is a community that votes its conscience, not necessarily Democratic or Republican, it just votes its conscience."

If you'd like to attend the rally you can get tickets at the GOP office on Clinton street in downtown Defiance from 9am-7pm now through Thursday. You can also log on to mittromney.com/OH. Of course we have all that information at 13abc.com too.

As for the country stars who will join Romney in Defiance, John Rich of the group Big and Rich and Randy Owen from the group Alabama will be there. Doors open at 5:15pm and the program starts at 7:50pm.

Defiance High School will be a very busy place Thursday night. While the rally is going on outside,a district women's volleyball game will be going on inside.