Katherine Lymn

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Lillian Hanzek, 18, is taking her first election seriously.

She planned ahead by asking for work off, and came prepared with a box of donuts as she waited in line Tuesday morning for the Bernie Sanders town hall at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton. She was there by 6:30 a.m. with her sister, Carrie.

RELATED: Guide to candidate sightings in Wisconsin

Knowing it was spring break for many schools, they arrived early — they know Sanders is popular with millennials. In her a government class at Neenah High School, when students had to make political ads, most were for Sanders, she said.

"It's neat because it's so close to us right now," Carrie said. She said they wanted to go to Sanders' Madison rally on Saturday, but couldn't make it from Neenah.

The Sanders rally was just one of the ways the 2016 presidential election put the Fox Cities in the national spotlight this week.

"It kind of shows everyone that we're important, and that our voice matters," said Jake Grand, of Oshkosh, who also showed up at 6:30 a.m. He said by then, roughly 50 people were already in line. By 8:30 a.m., the line had curved around the PAC, reaching Walnut Street.

Appleton police squads lined the streets, and agents from several departments, including Wisconsin State Patrol, patrolled intersections as supporters flocked to the center up until 9:30 a.m., when doors were scheduled to open.

Sanders' team didn't release tickets for the event, making it first-come, first-serve. The capacity of the PAC is just over 2,000 people.

Those in line said local businesses were benefiting from this rally, and that the boom for them was only the beginning, with Republican candidate Donald Trump scheduled to hold a rally across the street at the Radisson Paper Valley hotel on Wednesday.

Katherine Lymn: 920-996-7232, or klymn@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @KathLymn