ELECTION NOTEBOOK: The Lighter Side of the Campaign Trail

It was not the average election. A winter storm a week before had a lot to do with it.

The candidates had to sweat it out on Tuesday, but that is not to sat there were not light moments.

Here are a few.

"Oh, before you leave, you have to have a bowl of chili," Republican Town Committee Chairman Hal Cummings said to a visitor at GOP headquarters on Brooklyn Street.

"Whoa, this is good."

"Yeah, Laura Bush made it."

Bush was re-elected to the Board of Education as the top vote-getter. Did the chili have anything to do with it?

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Best dressed for the traditional sidewalk waving on Election Day? Republican Brian Motola and Democrat Ronald Scussel. Both were decked out in suits.

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Funniest line to a member of the media: Democratic Town Committee Vice Chairman Bill Dauphin says to a journalist, "Wait, you have a ski writing background, so you must have better sunglasses than that."

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Marie Herbst was telling the story about how people were giving her a hart time regarding the length of her candidate profile. She then went onto a longer dissertation about her days in education and the importance of writing.

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Candidates at Northeast School were marveling about how confused drivers were at the stop sign directly in front of the school. One joked about going into road to begin directing traffic.

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After a long night of election coverage, Cummings had to get up early and report for jury duty in hartford.

He was not chosen for the pool.