What suburban residents have to say from Washington
Hundreds of suburban residents traveled to Washington to become part of the throng watching the Obama inauguration make history. Here are some of their reactions:
Watching American history with a bunch of Americans on the Mall in Washington, D.C., made Inauguration Day even better for Mike Childress, 52, a telephone company customer service manager from Bloomingdale. "Absolutely festive. Just great. Anytime you get 3 million people and not one incident, that's a good thing," Childress said. "It was everything I expected and more. People of all races, ethnicities, sizes, shapes. That's the message of Obama _ inclusiveness." "The speech was great and I'm glad to see Bush go," Childress added, as he bid goodbye to the past eight years. "It's a new day. It is a new beginning. The speech was completely talking about the future, and nobody is above the American spirit. Our will will not be broken."
Leaving the inauguration near the Capitol, Kathi Griffin spied Obama escorting former President Bush and his wife down the Capitol's steps to a marine helicopter.
"It's a once in a lifetime experience," said Griffin, a Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 teacher from Schaumburg.
The crowd made the first impression of Tuesday's inauguration experience for longtime Algonquin Police Chief Russ Laine, 58, of Elgin, who marched with other police officers and children in his role with the Special Olympics organization.
"When I looked out at the Mall, I just couldn't believe it," Laine said. "I've never seen so many people."
The mood of that massive crowd is what he'll remember most.
"It's just an awesome experience. There's a lot of jubilation and celebration in the air," said Laine, who watched the ceremonies on a TV while packed into a warming tent with school bands and other students. "During the speech of President Obama, you could hear a pin drop I think people have a good outlook, a positive attitude and hope for the future."
Having stood for more than five hours in a packed crowd and freezing temperatures on the National Mall Tuesday, Leslie Cieslak of Roselle easily concluded, "it was worth the aggravation."
"Everything about it was something that you are going to remember," said the 50-year-old Obama campaign worker. "It is a pilgrimage. "
The speech and the pomp was "everything I thought it was going to be," she said.
If anything surprised Cieslak, it was that the crowds where in such a great mood despite the weather and waiting.
"There is no one really complaining," she says. "The people were clapping and screaming every time he said something."
Bartlett Village President Catherine Melchert had standing-room tickets for the inauguration, but the lines where so bad she couldn't make it in time.
She ducked into a nearby building and watched the ceremony on television.
"It was good to be there anyway," Melchert said. "The tenor of the moment was all positive."
Susan Wener of Mount Prospect never thought her 60th birthday would be celebrated with millions of close strangers - so close she couldn't move at the Washington Monument.
But Wener did catch a break after Obama took the oath of office. Ducking into a McDonald's for a short rest, she was surprised to find herself with prime seating to watch the inaugural parade.
"It was truly an incredible day. But the next time someone suggests going out into a crowd of 3 million people, I'm going to pass," Wener said.
The moment Obama finished taking the oath of office was burned into Dean Argiris' memory. He was startled by artillery guns firing into the air just feet away.
"We were about 100 feet to the right of the guns and it really shocked people when they went off," the Wheeling resident said. "It was really emotional."
Just a few dozen rows from Obama's podium sat suburban Illinois state Sens. Michael Bond of Grayslake and Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge.
For Bond, the best experience was talking to the crowds as they waited in endless lines for the inauguration and events running up to it.
"You start to talk to people and they are from all around the country," Bond said. "It didn't matter what age or what race, people were excited to be here - a moment in history. You wouldn't find that kind of socializing if you were waiting in line to a rock concert."
The moment Obama finished taking the oath of office is burned into Dean Argiris' memory.
Argiris was startled by artillery guns firing into the air just feet away.
"We were about 100 feet to the right of the guns and it really shocked people when they went off," the Wheeling resident said. "It was really emotional."
The small disappointment that came from being a half-mile away from President Obama couldn't quash the enthusiasm of 14-year-old Ben Nelson of Lake Villa. A freshman at Grayslake North High School, Ben was granted the chance to witness Tuesday's history in person as one of the students selected by the People to People Leadership Program.
"I was really glad we were there," Ben said, adding that he and his fellow students were "overwhelmed," "overjoyed," and even a little "hysterical" during parts of Obama's speech.
"I'm always going to have memories of this day," Ben said. "I'm going to be 60 years old someday, watching the news and saying, 'Hey, remember that day when the first African-American was sworn in as president and my generation got to see Martin Luther King's dream realized?' That was huge."
Four generations of women in Eleisse Pettigrew's family were at Tuesday's inauguration. Eleisse, 12, and her mother Renita, 42, of South Elgin, held onto each other as they watched history unfolding in person. Eleisse's grandmother, Donna, and great-grandmother Essielee, 90, were connected by telephone.
"America has come a long way," Eleisse said, after she and her mom stood in front of the reflecting pool while watching Barack Obama become our nation's 44th president. "There used to be slavery, and then segregation, and now we have an African-American in the White House."
Saying she felt "blessed" to share the moment with her daughter, a sixth-grader at Harvest Christian Academy in Elgin, Renita Pettigrew noted that her grandmother's grandmother was a slave.
"You just have this feeling that the direction of our country, in terms of how we interact with each other, has changed," Renita Pettigrew said. "Everyone was just like kindred spirits. There was so much laughter and chanting, but it was silent during that moment (when Obama took the oath). It was almost like people were holding their breath. There was so much energy, positive energy, in the air."
As Obama placed his hand on Abraham Lincoln's old Bible to take the oath of office, the throng on the National Mall fell silent.
"There was dead silence in the crowd. You could literally hear a pin drop," said Kevin Allen of Addison who was at least five blocks from the Capitol. "As soon as he said, 'So help me God,' the crowd erupted for at least a minute, just hugging and high-fiving each other. I even got hugged a few times."
The moment brought tears to Allen's eyes.
"It was kind of hard not to," he said. "It was a reinforcement of my faith in American democracy. We can get past the partisan politics."
Edward Morain, 40, of Arlington Heights got into the "blue" section behind the seated gallery with just 10 minutes to spare, despite being in line since 6 a.m.
"It was pretty incredible," said Morain of the experience. "There were hordes and hordes of people - (but) it was a pretty civil crowd, given the size of it."
Morain said when some in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd booed after Obama recognized Bush, several people chided them for not respecting a former president, albeit one they disagreed with.
Morain was struck by several things, the foremost being the swearing-in itself.
As a recently laid-off salesman in the financial industry, Morain was impressed by Obama's sense of urgency in addressing problems like his.
"I thought he delivered a very motivating speech that addressed the realities of today," Morain said.
Morain also reflected on the progress of race relations. A white American who grew up in the largely black suburb of Harvey, Morain noted how far the country has come, and what the moment meant not just to blacks, but to whites, who he believes will now view blacks differently and for the better.
"It's just a different mentality (now)," said Morain.
For Duncan DuClos, 41, of Gurnee, Tuesday was the culmination of two years of effort working in the Obama campaign. DuClos got on board with the Obama exploratory committee as an accounting manager and never let go.
"Being there as someone who was a mid-level staffer, the key moment was the swearing in. That was the culmination of two years of 15-hour days. But in the speech itself, I really liked the president's call for international engagement but also responsibility."
Alongside his girlfriend, Katie Olsen, 39, of Gurnee, he listened as Obama talked, and DuClos said he viewed the event as a fulfillment of the Declaration of Independence's "all men are created equal" phrase that has been a long time coming.
Like others, DuClos remarked on the size and camaraderie of the crowd.
"There were massive amounts of people but unlike a lot of big crowds I've been in, this was a very calm yet expectant sort of crowd. It had to be probably the most joyful crowd I've ever been in," DuClos said.
DuClos and Olsen were planning to attend a couple of the balls. And, he's got another fish to fry: trying to land a job in the Obama administration.
"There's still a possibility," he said.
Standing on Washington, D.C.'s 9th Street and watching the inauguration ceremonies on an outdoor video screen, Trevor Koehn appreciated being tall.
"The short people couldn't see anything," he said.
Koehn, 16, of Bloomingdale, was one of 5,000 teens from across the nation selected to attend official inaugural events, meet dignitaries and even go to an inaugural ball as part of the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference.
"He told us how to bring the nation together as a whole and become a better nation than it was," Koehn said. "Obama had a point to prove."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/packages/2009/inauguration/">Complete coverage of the inauguration</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>