Tech were on display, with many attendees wearing Virginia Tech hats and t-shirts, since the event occurred two days after the Virginia Tech massacre. Rather than giving a political speech, Bolling focused on the events at Virginia Tech. Bolling's son graduated from Virginia Tech in 2006. 2008 The 60th annual shad planking was held on April 16, the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre and coincided with the reconvened session of the Virginia General Assembly. The featured speakers were the candidates for Virginia's open U.S. Senate seat, Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate, and Republican contenders Del. Robert G. Marshall and former governor Jim Gilmore. Each candidate opened with comments on the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Warner spoke of bipartisan cooperation and pledged to become a "radical centrist" if elected. Marshall, who was facing Gilmore for the Republican Party nomination, emphasized his conservative voting record and strong stance against abortion and gay marriage. He also highlighted his role leading the legal challenge to the regional transportation authorities in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. Gilmore emphasized his connection to John McCain and Warner's connection to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He characterized Warner as an untrustworthy, "tax-and-spend" liberal who wanted to set a withdrawal date for the war in Iraq. 2009 Wet weather early in the day cleared up before start time but there was a smaller than expected crowd. The featured speakers were the 2009 candidates for governor: Republican Bob McDonnell and Democratic contenders Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe. 2010 Because of a light rain continuing almost up to time for the speeches to start, the crowd was small. The featured speaker was former United States Senator and former Governor of Virginia George Allen. 2012 An April 20 editorial in The Roanoke Times noted the event's lack of Democrats, but said that didn't mean it was dead: "The only debate possible is over exactly which year the Shad Planking went too far. Was it 2005, when a campaign worker in a duck costume was escorted off the premises by police after complaints that he was being disorderly? Or 2009, when former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe hogged the camera after spotting a crew from the Sean Hannity Show? No matter which theory you believe, most everyone agrees that Virginia's bony little shad long ago jumped the shark." 2016 2016 brings three major changes to the event: