Inquirer staff writer Jillian Smith reports:
The Pennysaver convenience store on the corner of Wayne Avenue and Apsley Street in Germantown was empty during the usual lunchtime rush. With no TV, store owner Yunnie Kim and cashier Jimmae Little could not watch the inauguration. To be honest, there was nothing to prove that today was a day in history except for the lack of customers. Maybe they were elsewhere viewing Obama’s speech?
Then, at noon, two men broke the silence in the store to order lunch at the deli counter. “I don't care too much for Obama. I voted for McCain,” said Malik Carter. Carter and his friend Bryant Peoples continued to joke about Obama, mainly about his middle name being Hussein.
Inquirer staff writer Zoe Tillman reports:
2:07 p.m.
Paul Coyle, 61, from Ambler, drove in with his family on Saturday. After several hours standing in the cold near the Washington Monument, he and his family headed back to their hotel to watch the parade on TV.
“We’re going to quit while we’re ahead,” he said.
Inquirer staff writer Joelle Farrell reports:2:05 p.m.
In Delaware County, 100 second and third grade students from the Widener Partnership Charter School gathered with about 100 university faculty and staff to watch the inauguration on a large movie projector screen in Lathem Hall, formerly a church.
Some of the elementary school students dozed off, while others squirmed in their chairs, their feet swinging. Others tried to ignore the distractions around them, taking in a moment they have been told was something to remember.
Inquirer staff writer Peter Dobrin reports:
2 p.m.
Classical music had maybe its largest and most captive audience ever this afternoon when John Williams' Air and Simple Gifts debuted just before Barack Obama took the oath of the office.
Inquirer staff writer Rita Giordano reports:
At Burlington Township High School, a racially diverse school in Burlington, NJ, seniors Melissa Dallmann, 18, and her friend Tyler Riley, 17, watched the inauguration with about 100 other students in the school’s performing arts center.
As the procession began and Micehelle Obama emerged Melissa turned to Loetta Henry, an 18-year-old senior.
Inquirer staff writer Amy S. Rosenberg reports from Atlantic City:Aretha got them first. Inside Millenium Cuts on Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City, where the inauguration was on two screens, front and back of the store, it was the big-bow-hatted queen of soul who got the tears flowing. Abdus Shakur, 43, who had come in from his outdoor stand of cd's to watch, just shook his head as he sat rapt with a few others on folding chairs and tears welled up and then overflowed.
There could be no describing. Just knowing looks exchanged through tear-filled eyes.
At Cheyney University in Chester County, student government president George Bush was among the 200 students and faculty in the Marcus Foster Students Center at the historically black college watching Obama take his oath of office.
While many around him applauded, waved flags and screamed in celebration, Bush sat silently, his hands folded, his eyes transfixed on the screen. “I don’t have many timeless moments but this is one of them," he said. "It feels like a movie that you’re in.”
Inquirer staff writer Jan Hefler reports from Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury NJ.:1:16 p.m.
Phyllis Carr, 67, of Clarksboro, was in the surgical waiting room at Underwood waiting for her husband to be released from the operating room.
A retired secretary with four grown children, she thought the speech was “very good.”
Inquirer staff writer Jeff Shields reports:
Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.’s staff gathered in the 3rd Floor City Hall office of his legislative Counsel, Shoshanna Bricklin, to watch the inauguration. The phones were quiet -- apparently the constituents of the Councilman’s 4th District were busy watching as well. It all unfolded on the Councilman’s 52-inch Sony flatscreen, bought with campaign funds, which adorns the office wall. It’s the kind of thing usually seen in emergency management centers; here it’s normally used for Powerpoint presentations.
Legislative Aide Morgan Cephas liked the fact that Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts couldn’t get the oath straight – it made the new President more human. Josh Cohen, director of legislative services, cheered the new vice-president as the most famous graduate of the University of Delaware. Cohen claimed second place for himself before realisitically settling for third behind Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
Edith Savage-Jennings, an old friend of Coretta Scott King’s, said she was overcome with emotion and cried as President Obama took the oath of office and delivered his speech.
“All I could think of was Martin, Coretta,” she said. “It’s hard to say how you feel. I’m just excited and I’m just so joyful.”
The Inauguration: Jan. 20 blog brings you coverage of President-elect Barack Obama's transition into office.
It's written by political journalists from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Send us your comments -- and news tips -- at this address.
Thomas Fitzgerald joined The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2000, and has covered Harrisburg as well as city, state and national politics for the newspaper. He was a “boy on the bus” in the 2004 presidential campaign and during primary contests in 2000 and 1996.
Nathan Gorenstein has covered politics and government in the city, state and nation for the Inquirer. He's worked in the city hall bureau, had a stint on the business desk, and once covered the suburbs. After serving as assistant regional editor, he was named editor of the "Politics" web site.
