Ah, what to make of these Juggalos? For those who need an intro, Juggalos are the very dedicated fans of the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse and their recording label, Psychopathic Records.

And there are more than quite a few of them.

They do their own thing. Face-painting. A mythology called the Dark Carnival derived from six of the band's albums. A hardcore style of wrestling.

And they apparently enjoy spraying each other with Faygo soda. Really.

And, like fans of a lot of bands, they've been known to enjoy beer. Some smoke marijuana. Nudity has been known to occur.

The relevance here is that thousands of Juggalos are preparing to arrive in Hardin County, with a population of less than 5,000, for the annual Gathering of the Juggalos, which is Aug. 7-10 at the rural Cave-In-Rock venue.

Last year, about 7,000 Juggalos showed up.

Hardin County was, understandably, a bit tense.

Sheriff Tom Seiner got all the help he could from Illinois State Police and the U.S. Forest Service and put on an impressive display of police presence.

While the law officers made dozens of arrests, most were traffic and drug-related, the sheriff said. In general, the Juggalos were well-behaved, Seiner said. And the one death that did happen was heat-related, not the result of any criminal activity.

The county spent $10,000 to $12,000 providing police protection. This year, Hardin County has an $8,000 federal grant to help offset its expenses.

So, Seiner and his colleagues are following the maxim of being safe rather than sorry. They are planning a similar police presence.

As Illinois State Police Capt. Harry Masse put it, "The response time if we weren't here could be hours. Lives are saved in minutes, not hours. It's important to realize we have to plan for the worst and hope for the best."

That's good sense.

What's also good sense: Give the Juggalos a chance as people. Treat them as guests. They do, you know, have cash.

Ask Betty Norman of Family Package Store in Elizabethtown.

"They were really nice kids from all over the world," she recently told The Southern.

And: "They spent a lot of money here, and we can use any business we get."

It's true that one idiot can screw up a good concert. One violent idiot can mar a band's reputation for years. And a mistake by police can escalate a situation.

So, let's acknowledge we know that anything's possible at a four-day event that includes thousands of people, hundreds of performances, carnival rides, camping and wrestling.

And let's hope, this year, Southern Illinoisans and Juggalos do what they did last year: Treat each other like human beings - with respect.

It seems to work pretty well.