Tuesday's presidential inauguration is a source of hope for countless Americans, millions of whom will descend on the nation's capitol city to watch a historic and inspiring leader be sworn in. Among those millions will be several dozen Nacogdoches residents from all walks of life, who are traveling to Washington D.C. to participate in the event.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Tuesday's presidential inauguration is a source of hope for countless Americans, millions of whom will descend on the nation's capitol city to watch a historic and inspiring leader be sworn in. Among those millions will be several dozen Nacogdoches residents from all walks of life, who are traveling to Washington D.C. to participate in the event. Their backgrounds and motivations for attending the ceremony are as diverse as the many ambitions of the man they will watch take office.
Several area churches are sending buses to Washington, D.C. for 57 members to observe the ceremony. Among the travelers from Live Oak, Iron Wheel, Zion Hill and Star of Hope Baptist churches will be John Morrison, whose voyage will cap off an unforgettable experience that began when he worked as a campaign worker for Barack Obama.
"I want to be there because of the history, because this is history in the making," he said. "I've been working in his campaign over the past year, so I figured I might as well go on and witness this historical event."
Morrison said he wasn't exactly sure where he would be in Washington during the inauguration, but for him and many others on the trip, proximity to the event seemed satisfying enough. No matter what, he said, he is going to hear the speech.
Appropriately for a candidate who inspired record numbers of young people to vote and engage in politics, several contingents of Nacogdoches students will go to Washington to see the ceremony. Seven SFA students will attend the inauguration and watch the ceremony from seats near the front thanks to the efforts of Latterious Starks, who obtained tickets from U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert.
As a student coordinator for the university's office of multicultural affairs, Starks organized the trip to offer students a low-cost oppor
tunity for his peers. The $600 fee includes bus transportation to Washington, D.C., thanks to a partnership with another student group from Ohio University Southern. In addition to seats near the front of the Capitol steps, the students will be able to go sightseeing over the course of the three day trip.
Starks, who volunteered for the Obama campaign in Tyler, said he would have organized the trip no matter who won the election. "It really didn't matter who actually won the election. It was just giving students the opportunity to experience life in D.C. and see an inauguration."
While in Washington, D.C., the SFA students will also take up President-elect Obama's challenge to use the day before the election — Martin Luther King, Jr. day — to do community service work.
An SFA graduate student who will go on the trip, Zykia Sam, said her first trip to Washington D.C. will be filled with high emotion. "This is monumental, so I want to be a part of it," she said. "I'm definitely looking forward to the speech."
In a separate trip, Central Heights ISD will send 12 students and five adults to watch the ceremony and parade on the Washington Mall. Elementary school teacher Carol Stobart said the ceremony will be just one of many highlights in a jam-packed tour of the area that will include the many monuments and historic sites, like George Washington's Mount Vernon, Va. home and Arlington National Cemetery. The group of eager students, who range from fifth to 10th grade, will reflect on months of preparation in school as they witness the inauguration. Students have completed units on politics and related issues, including mock debates and faux school-wide elections.
Students held fund-raisers like car washes and snow-cone sales to raise money for their trip, and Wal-Mart donated $1,000 to their cause.
Other Nacogdoches residents have found ways to attend the ceremony on their own.
Tobi Kaiyewo, an SFA graduate student from Sugar Land, received assistance from Gohmert in obtaining tickets to inauguration events. He said he's not part of a group going to the nation's capital to witness history.
"This came about out of my own interest — I had been looking at how counties voted, whether they favored Obama or McCain," he said. "And, I just wanted to see the inauguration."
Kaiyewo and his girlfriend are heading to Baltimore, Md., today, and they were lucky enough to get hotel reservations in Washington, D.C. for Monday and Tuesday. "Not lucky — blessed," he said. "I have a good friend who planned ahead."
Kaiyewo said he is thinking about going to law school, and he's contemplating his own future in politics.
Helena and Mohammad Abdullah of Nacogdoches put their plans into place within a few days after the November election. The Abdullahs, along with their daughter, granddaughter and a good friend, plan to stay with a friend in Richmond, Va. and do some sightseeing before Tuesday's events. They, too, contacted Gohmert when they began making plans to attend the inauguration. They're not certain where they will be when the historic inauguration takes place, but Helena said Gohmert's office "gave us a map."
"We will be getting up early Tuesday to go to the inauguration site, because we have to be cleared by the FBI when we get our tic
kets," Helena said. "We know that we will be in one of the grandstand areas off of the main route.
"When we initially made plans to go to the inauguration, we knew there would be a lot of people there," she said. "But we never dreamed it would be like this. Our expectations of being at a certain place at a certain time have certainly diminished. We're just excited to be in the place."
Planning ahead, Helena said she is taking snacks for her family because she cannot image Washington restaurants being able to accommodate the influx of millions of people who will be there.
"And, I'm expecting problems getting into a restroom," she said, adding jokingly that she planned to "ween myself off coffee between now and Tuesday."
Michele Peck, account representative with Point A Media, said she can only imagine "the buzz, the excitement and the energy" that will fill the nation's capital Tuesday.
She and her husband, Adam Peck, Dean of Students at SFA, and their son, Noble, plan to fly to New Jersey and stay with family until Monday evening, when they will move into a hotel room in Washington, D.C.
Inauguration day will find them standing along the parade route with plans to go to one of the sites where large screens have been set up for a closer look at the swearing-in ceremony.
"We're going (to the inauguration) just to be there. We're going for the energy. We're taking our son to this wonderfully historic event. He's 5 years old, and he's a huge Obama fan," she said.
The Pecks are due back in Nacogdoches Tuesday night. "We won't be going to any of the parties. We weren't invited," Michele said with a laugh.
Some of the Nacogdoches natives attending the ceremony will not just take in the sights for themselves, but actively work as ambassadors of East Texas during their stay in the capitol. SFA art professor Peter Andrew, his wife, Nancy, and son, Carl, have been invited by the Texas State Society's Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Gala, as part of the Best of Texas fair at the event. This is Peter and Nancy's third trip to Washington for an inauguration and Carl's second trip.
The Andrews arrived in D.C. last Wednesday and are staying at the Adam's Inn, a "charming B&B within walking distance of the National Zoo," Peter said. They plan to return to Nacogdoches late Tuesday.
As with the last two Inaugural Galas, the Andrews will be showcasing their art — Nancy's jewelry and Peter's landscape paintings — and "acting as unofficial ambassadors for Nacogdoches."
"To this end, the CVB and COC have supplied us with brochures, bumper stickers, buttons, bags, Forest Country souvenirs and tchotchke that would make anyone want to move to East Texas," Peter said.
