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Locals attending Obama inauguration
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:01 PM EST
By Lisa Andrews, Staff Writer
SOUTH HILL — Making sacrifices in a lagging economy, being environmentally friendly and sharing an historic event with friends on a low budget were among the reasons that five men from the Raleigh, N.C. area chose to ride bicycles 277 miles from Raleigh, N.C. to Washington, D.C., along Route U.S. 1 in order to be present for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Several Mecklenburg County residents are also planning to attend the historic inauguration Tuesday, and are planning to share their experiences with The Enterprise.
On Thursday the Raleigh cyclists’ journey brought them to South Hill. The five recent college graduates had campaigned for Obama and were elated and still full of energy and excitement after the election. To fulfill their need to continue the celebration, the men began planning what they called “North Carolina Inauguration Bike Ride.” During the ride, a filmmaker, Scott Heath, is tagging along to film a documentary about the journey.
Cory Livengood, on the car support team and driving a hybrid vehicle, said, “We volunteered during the campaign. There was still energy to do more and we wanted to do something different and be in line with the message that President Obama had during the campaign.”
Bicyclist Darryl Jones said that after biking approximately 82 miles on Thursday, in temperatures that never reached above freezing, it had been a great trip so far. South Hill was their resting point after traveling what would be their longest day of the trip.
In an interview with the team at S&S Barbecue on Danville Street, Jones said, “This is about an alternative to driving or flying to the inauguration. We are manifesting the sacrifices Obama has asked people to make. (We are) sacrificing our comfort, our luxury and our bodies to raise awareness on what it means to go from place to place using alternative forms of transportation. We are trying to be active citizens.”
Jones said that he understood that bicycling 277 miles was not the best way for many to make the journey and would not be the best form of travel for such a long distance on a day-to-day basis; but suggested that Americans could bike to work, school or to the store.
Biker Matt Huffman said, “Finding a more compelling way to travel shows a great appreciation to other people about the options available.
“Our generations fascination with him (Obama) is because we have seen what (past) presidents have done to our country. We have needed a politician we could believe in. We could relate to the idea that someone had dreamed as big as he (Obama) did.”
The team said that along the way they had already experienced the feel of rural North Carolina and Southside Virginia. Bicyclist Matt Watts said, “We have been able to see beautiful places along the way. We have stopped to enjoy the towns, whereas if in a vehicle we would have driven right through.” The team said that during their ride Thursday they had received lots of honks in support of their efforts to raise awareness.
On the Bike Ride blog, ncinaugbikeride.blogspot.com, the team shares their manifesto and tenants that will be included in their film. The documentary is their way to show the historic nature of Obama’s inauguration and show the celebration from the largest public gathering in America’s recent history.
The film will also show how they are challenging our modern perception of space and time and show how the nation can move forward beyond the current habits of movement.
They are also hoping to show the environmental importance of finding other ways to travel than oil-based and how the nation needs to be more ecologically conscious.
The film will show how the team has made sacrifices in an era of deficit spending in an increasingly difficult economic climate.
“This is not about us,” Jones said. “This is about something we were truly empowered to do. He (Obama) was the first to ask us (young people) what we wanted and asked us to be a part of what would happen in our nation. He was the one to push us.
“No one has proposed a better idea,” Jones explained about the proposed stimulus package Obama has talked about asking Congress to approve.
Huffman asked, “What if he can do even 60 percent of what he says he can?”
They left South Hill Friday morning, after staying at the Budget Inn on Mecklenburg Avenue, and after updating their blog, headed to Midlothian. They had planned to camp out in South Hill Thursday night using the tents they had brought along but changed their minds due to temperatures dropping into the single digits Thursday night.
They arrived in D.C. on Sunday. They planed to see Bruce Springsteen perform Sunday night at the National Mall. They will return to Raleigh, N.C. via Amtrak.
The Enterprise has learned of four local people who will be present for the historic inauguration. Annette Tucker, president of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party and a teacher for Mecklenburg County Public Schools, left Monday to take her place among those who received an invitation to the event. She will share her experience with The Enterprise when she returns. Sunday she said, “I am excited to be a part of history and elated to be in the midst of the inauguration.”
Sgt. Lloyd Meredith, a Park View High School ROTC Jr. teacher, and his sons, Michael and Marcus, left Sunday for Washington, D.C. They celebrated Martin Luther King’s birthday by visiting various monuments and honoring King’s legacy. Meredith said while he was too young to remember the actual events of King’s life, he was thrilled to be able to experience the special day and then take in the historic inauguration.
Meredith and his sons will also be sharing their experience with The Enterprise upon their return. On Sunday, Meredith said that they would witness the inauguration by standing in the lawn, possibly around the reflecting pool. “This is for me and the boys,” he said. “This is for those who can’t make it (to the inauguration). This (an African-American president) may not happen again in my boys’ lifetime.” |
