Hundreds of Lincoln County residents not only attended the live stream of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama at the Lincoln Theater on Jan. 20, but others took the long trek to Washington, D.C. to personally witness history in the making.
The First President Dan Daigneault attended the concert on the mall, witnessed the Inauguration, and graciously submitted some memorable photos to share with all of Lincoln County.
Skidompha children’s librarian Jenny Mahyer also attended the festivities, kicked up her heels at an Inaugural Ball, and also shares her photos.
Lincoln Academy graduate and Bristol native Lakotah Farrell attended the Inauguration as part of a four-day student conference. The University Presidential Inaugural Conference included seminars featuring Gen. Colin Powell, Luke Russert, and Al Gore, as well as tickets to the inauguration and two black tie inaugural balls.
Currently Farrell is an undergraduate student at the University of Montana (UMO), with a major in Environmental Policy and a minor in Political Science. He was chosen to go to the inaugural conference because of his participation in the Youth Leadership Forum Conference. Farrell said he received his invitation to the conference and inauguration over a year ago, before the election was even decided.
In Washington, Farrell stayed at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on the seventh floor, he said. The hotel was two minutes from the National Mall.
The conference schedule was similar Saturday, Sunday, and Monday with seminars in the morning, and time to explore the city in the afternoons. On Sunday, Farrell traveled to the University of Maryland (UMD) to see Gen. Colin Powell speak.
UMD is slightly larger than UMO, and has a large international student population. Farrell met students from Cyprus, London, Norway, Germany, and Austria. He said the international perspectives on America, and the new administration, particularly struck him.
“One student told me the rest of the world views the U.S. President as the leader of the world,” Farrell said. “There were Inauguration celebrations going on across the globe. It made me proud to be an American.”
Monday he returned to UMD to see former Vice President Al Gore, who spoke about the economy and other challenges the newly elected administration will face. Farrell said he expected Gore to be drier than he was, and remarked that he particularly enjoyed Gore’s sense of humor.
Farrell, his roommate, and a group leader, Michelle, were standing in the Marriott lobby after exiting a seminar, when they saw a crowd of well-dressed people with jewelry and furs entering the hotel. They were enduring a thorough security screening before entering a seminar.
By a stroke of luck, the students were invited inside to see the speaker. To gain entrance, they each had to pass through a metal detector closely scrutinized by four policemen, which took nearly 20 minutes.
“There were secret service all over the hotel,” said Farrell. “We didn’t know who we were going to see. I found out the ticket holders paid $4000 to see Joe Biden speak, and we got in for free. I felt really special.”
Farrell’s father, Charles, said he received a phone call from Lakotah as soon as he left the room where Biden spoke. “He got in for free because he was in the right place at the right time. As soon as he got out he called me up, he was so tickled and excited.”
Tuesday was a non-stop 24-hour day. Lakotah described arriving at the National Mall at 3 a.m. and not returning home from the inaugural balls until nearly 3 a.m. the next day.
He waited in line for three hours to get through security, he said. Farrell watched Barack Obama’s Inauguration and first Presidential address from the National Mall on the Jumbo-tron monitors. Security was incredibly tight with police officers, in uniform and undercover, dispersed throughout the crowd.
“Everyone was on his or her best behavior,” he said. “There were cameras on the streets, the buildings, everywhere. It would be very hard to get away with anything in Washington D.C.”
There were no problems or arrests during the festivities. Lakotah said cheers arose from the crowd every time the new President’s name was said.
Both the Inauguration and the Inaugural parade are listed on the itinerary for the University Conference, but Farrell said it would have been impossible for him to travel from one event to the other.
Farrell attended two Inaugural Balls, one at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and one at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. A cover band played popular songs, as guests danced well into the night.
“We were getting up really early in the morning, 4 a.m. each day,” Farrell said. “Then we were staying up fairly late each night. The biggest challenge was getting enough sleep.”
Charles Farrell and his wife Beth, made a quick trip to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to pick-up their son’s suits, and get a visit in before Lakotah flew back to college. Apparently tired was an understatement for Lakotah’s physical and mental state after the weekend’s events.
“When we saw him he hadn’t slept for two days,” said Charles. “We took him to get a bite too eat, and he was so tired his eyes were rolling back in his head.”
