DORSET,
Minn. -- Dorset’s Mayor, Robert “Bobbie” Tufts, has become a national
sensation after a WCCO TV interview went viral over the weekend.
Robert is no ordinary mayor. The 4-year-old from Nevis was
“elected” mayor of the tiny town of Dorset (population 22) at last
year’s Taste of Dorset festival. Each year, anyone can pay $1 to put his
or her name in a hat for a chance to have the title and key to the city
for a year.
Last August, Robert was the lucky winner.
His mother, Emma, said her son usually includes his title as Dorset Mayor when he meets people.
“It’s just part of his spiel -- he’s always pushing it,” she said. “I don’t think he even realizes it.”
A visit to Dorset’s restaurants Thursday was part of the
2013 Governor’s Fishing Opener festivities for media. WCCO TV’s Frank
Vascellaro and Chris Shaffer met Robert during their visit and recorded
an interview with the young mayor.
Robert didn’t miss a beat. He described the best bait to
use to catch fish, gave a shout-out to his girlfriend, Sophia, and
performed a song and dance routine. The video was posted to YouTube over
the weekend and had more than 10,000 hits as of Tuesday morning.
“The video has only been up for two days. It’s just crazy,” Emma said.
The Tufts have been receiving media requests from many
outlets, including “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Good Morning
America,” “Inside Edition” and radio stations from the Twin Cities and
beyond. Yahoo and MSN each had stories about Robert on their home pages
Monday.
What does Robert think of all the attention?
“It’s just another day for him,” his mother said. “He likes the attention but doesn’t think too much of it.”
The experience has been fun for Emma as well, and she thinks the publicity is great for the area.
“When I was explaining to the person from Yahoo the fishing
opener and the celebration, she didn’t understand why we would
celebrate fishing,” Emma said. “I told her, this is Minnesota and it’s a
big deal here.It’s just awesome for the area, for Dorset, for Park
Rapids, for all of Minnesota. It’s huge.”
Source - http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/minnesota-towns-4-year-old-mayor-draws-national-attention
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