I'm here in Graves County, home of the annual Fancy Farm picnic.

This two day event is a fundraiser for Saint Jerome Catholic Church.

There's bingo music and plenty of barbecue.

Also, a lot of politics as this event has become known as the kickoff to Kentucky's political campaigns season.

Interestingly, there are no statewide elections in Kentucky this year.

Still, Fancy Farm is finding relevance as candidate seeking to represent Kentucky and Washington are already campaigning ahead of next year's elections.

We'll have more on what to expect during tomorrow's political speeches in a few minutes.

But first, a look back at the history of Fancy Farm and including the story behind the town's interesting name.

Our Toby Gibbs has this history lesson.

The story really begins in the 1820s, when settlers from Tennessee, Virginia and other parts of Kentucky first arrived in present day Graves County.

Many were Catholic, and they founded Saint Jerome's Catholic Church in 1836.

A series of family reunions turned into a regular series of picnics.

And by 1880, the picnic had become a fundraiser for the church.

But it wasn't political at first.

My grandfather was the one who really popularized the political aspect of the Fancy Farm picnic, and that was in the 1930s, 1931 specifically.

That's the year Abby Happy Chandler spoke while running for lieutenant governor.

He went on to win that race, and Fancy Farm became a place for old school political speechifying.

We think of Fancy Farm as being the first Saturday in August.

That wasn't always the case.

In fact, for most of its history, it wasn't.

It was in July until 1956, when Kentucky's primary was in August, when the primary moved to May, Fancy Farm was pushed back and became the unofficial kickoff to the fall campaign.

Some big national names had turned up at Fancy Farm.

Governor George Wallace spoke in 1975, one year before his fourth and final campaign for president, and three years after he was paralyzed by a would be assassin's bullet.

He was up at the podium speaking, and that's when the photographers had the old style cameras that had the exposed flashbulbs on them, while the photographer went to take a picture.

And then it popped like a gun, and Governor Wallace flinched.

He didn't say anything.

So he went on and proceeded with his speech.

The photographer reloaded.

The bulb took another, stale shot of a minute.

Pop, lock a gun.

Governor Wallace flashed again.

He says in his Alabama accent, you'll have to excuse me, but I'm still just a little bit gun shy up here.

Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas was there in 1988 as a candidate for vice president.

But he couldn't swing Kentucky to the Dukakis Bentsen ticket.

Senator al Gore of Tennessee stopped at Fancy Farm four years later.

He was more successful.

Clinton and Gore carried Kentucky that November.

Senator and Vice President Albin Barkley spoke at Fancy Farm multiple times.

It was familiar turf for him.

The Jackson purchaser's favorite son was born in Graves County.

The food has also made the history books.

When picnic goers put away 15,000 pounds of mutton, pork and chicken at the 1982 picnic, it made the Guinness Book of World Records.

You might be asking, how did the community get that name?

The story is in the 1840s, when the area wanted its own post office.

A visiting postal inspector stayed at a farm that made quite an impression on him, so he named the area Fancy Farm for Cat.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

Another interesting fact prior to 1968, speeches weren't given under a covered pavilion.

Speakers often spoke from the bed of a truck parked under an old tree in front of the church building.