Richie and Greg at the Obama Inauguration

Soon after the election, Richie called and asked if I would try and get him some tickets to the inauguration. He had evidently discovered that getting tickets from his Virginia congressmen would be impossible. Interestingly, that very day there was an article in the paper about how to get tickets. I immediately contacted the Jason Chaffetz at the indicated email address. Congressman Chaffetz emailed me back saying he didn't know how many tickets he would get, if any, but would let me know. I also called Senator Hatch's local office, they told me to forget it, and Senator Bennett's office, they put me on a list. On December 17th, I got an email from the office of Congressman Chaffetz letting me know they had two tickets for me. Soon after I got a phone call from Senator Bennett's office letting me know they also had two tickets for me. Believing, and rightly so, that Richie probably had some friends that could use the tickets, I confirmed that I would pick up these tickets.

In order to prevent scalping, I guess, the only way to get the tickets was to appear personally at the congressman's office with ID about three or four days prior to the event. When Richie and Greg went to the office of Rep. Chaffetz, they realized that security was so tight and the line so long, that by the time they got the tickets, Senator Bennett's office would be closed. Greg called Senta and asked her to get them a number for the office. When they called the number and explained the situation, Rep. Chaffetz came out personally and gave them the tickets.

On the morning of the big day, they got on the Metro at about 7 AM and headed for town. As everyone has heard, the crowds were massive. After they had been waiting in line for an hour, they noticed up at the front of the line, that security was turning people away. Greg told me that he had enough experience with concerts to know that there was usually a way around security. This next photo shows the line (I use that word loosely as it was really a street full of people) with a row of buses on the right side. Richie and Greg made their way to the other side of the row of buses and walked around security (it's kind of scary when you think about it, two college kids from Utah busting through inauguration security) and eventually got to their spot about 10:45. There were a lot of people not so lucky, or maybe not so devious. There have been many articles about the people who didn't get in. Click on the link to read one.


These next two photos are of the very patriotic Wilcox Boys at the Obama Inaguration.

Tickets to the inauguration were divided up using colors. The tickets Richie and Greg had were silver. A map showing the various locations can be seen by clicking on the link. As one newspaper article stated:

"There are five types of tickets, each color-coded depending on the entrance and how close guests can be to the stage: blue, yellow, orange, purple and silver. Most of the tickets are rectangular, just a couple inches high and about six inches across. But ironically, the biggest tickets (silver) are for spots the furthest away from the Capitol and are designated as standing room only. Those tickets are three-times the size of the others.

"I guess they have to do something for the people in the back to make them feel special," one aide said.

And, by the way, for those who have heard that this was the most expensive inauguration ever, it is completely untrue. Check out the link.

As some of you may know, Greg works on the school paper at UVU. He tried to get them to pay for his ticket, but with the state budget the way it is this year, there was no way. However, he did get to bring a camera owned by the paper. So even though they weren't all that close, they still got a photo in which you can see the President and his wife (you'll have to double click on the photo to enlarge it).

If you click on the photo and look down from the right edge of the window to the right of the red-draped entrance, you can see Pres. and Mrs. Obama (look for a yellow-colored coat).

Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard represented the Church at the inauguration. They both seem to have a hope and respect for Pres. Obama which seems to be lacking in the general membership.

Both left the prayer service with a sense the people of America are going to unite behind the new president and his administration and that we need to pray for him. Elder Ballard said, "We need to exercise our prayers and help him accomplish the great objectives that he has set."

Both President Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard used adjectives like "marvelous," "wonderful" and "overwhelming" in describing their experiences.

"This new administration is sending a message of hope and change to the world," President Uchtdorf said. "We know there is no greater message to all the world than the message of the Church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I only hope this historic moment will open doors and hearts to the gospel message of hope and change."

To read the full article in the Church News, click on the link.

To see all of their photos, click on my picassa album.