Not every diehard supporter of President-elect Barack Obama will be in Washington, D.C., to cheer his inauguration in person.
Marsha Scutvick of Mill Creek decided that rather than stand with hundreds of thousands of others in the frigid cold to hear Obama speak, she’ll be sitting alongside friends indoors watching it on television.
“I had opportunities to go,” said Scutvick, leader of the Snohomish County for Obama campaign, “I told folks who offered me tickets that I would take a rain check for the next inauguration.”
Scutvick, who was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, will be joining other Obama backers at an inaugural breakfast in Mill Creek and an evening ball at Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrace.
At the ball, where some folks will arrive in formal dress, there will be live music from a band featuring another national delegate, Luis Moscoso of Mountlake Terrace.
“Some guests are coming in work clothes. Some are coming in ball gowns because they want to feel a bit like they are there,” Scutvick said.
“People are really getting excited. Everybody has been counting down the days when President Bush is gone and there is a new beginning,” she said.
Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, said she would love to be in Washington, D.C., but “we can’t all go, all 300 million of us. We can celebrate the greatness of this country right here.”
She and other House Democrats plan to watch Obama’s inaugural speech together and she said she intends to attend the ball in Mountlake Terrace.
It will be an emotional day for her.
“This is a seminal event in the history of this country. As an old civil rights warrior, I can’t tell you how important this day is,” she said. “We’re swearing in an African-American president. Let me restate that — an American president who happens to be black.
“We’ve come so far,” Chase said, pausing as tears welled and spilled forth. “It is not about the color of your skin. It is about the content of your character.”
Kristine Petereit of Everett is another Obama loyalist staying put.
“I’m not disappointed. I will watch with my family at home and celebrate at night with friends,” she said.
She too went to the Democratic National Convention and, while not a delegate, did attend some of the events.
“I felt like I was a witness to history when I saw him give his acceptance speech in Denver,” she said.
She’s eager to hear him Tuesday and even more so to watch the Obamas when they visit the different galas.
“I’m excited about the speech, but I’m dying to see what Michelle wears that night,” she said, noting the first lady’s outfit will end up in the Smithsonian.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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