| By Bob Weaver
Interest in President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20 is running so high that it is estimated four million people are likely to attend. A quarter million "official" tickets have been printed.
A Calhoun couple will be going to Washington for the event, to attend with family members.
Roger and Beverly Yoak of Nobe Road will be traveling to their daughter's home in Ft. Meade, Maryland, where they will be joined by other family members to take a train to DC, 30 miles away.
Yoak, a Calhoun native and graduate of Calhoun High in 1966, said "This a once in a lifetime opportunity for us," having obtained tickets through a Wyoming representative.
"We'll be inside the fence," he said, "We've already received a list of rules for attending, like no bags, containers, water or food."
Most of the crowd will occupy the greater mall area.
Yoak is the son of Arnold Yoak, who lives in Calhoun, and the late Mildred Bush Yoak, he moved to Wyoming to work at FMC, retiring after 30 years service.
He returned to Calhoun in 2002 with his wife Beverly, who grew up on Leafbank with her parents, Doris and Genevieve Dooley Kight.
"We're really looking forward to it, even though it presents a lot of challenges with such a big crowd," Yoak concluded.
THE INAUGURATION
News reports say scalped tickets are being sold for $20,000.
Entry to the big event is free if your congressman or senator grants your request, but with demand out-pacing supply a traditional giveaway has turned into a thriving online marketplace.
The presidential inauguration is an event that's about as close to a royal coronation as American government gets.
It's a day filled with ceremony, guards, salutes, parades and speeches.
At John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961, he made his legendary "Ask not what your country can do for you â ask what you can do for your country" speech.
The historic nature of Obama's presidency â not to mention his oratorical abilities â guarantees that his inauguration will be of the books.
The inauguration usually takes place at noon on the steps of the west front of the U.S. Capitol building.
While there are official items to be covered, after all the pomp and circumstance, it's party time.
Inaugural celebrations can last up to five days.
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