At the Outlook Inn, Eastsound, Orcas, the inauguration celebration for 44th President Barack Obama took place on a frosty, foggy Tuesday; co-coordinator Nancy Schafer commented, “It was great! About 100 people came and there were adults as well as lots of kids; people were very much in a celebratory mood. We all watched a recording of the speech, and some other pieces put together by Chris Thomerson, a local media guru. One was a speech prior to the music performance on Sunday, as well as Pete Seeger singing This Land is Your Land. There was a strong community focus and lots of spirit. Obama himself visited in the form of a lifesize cardboard cutout….we ordered him through a store in Seattle with no way of getting him here….we were able to to transport him from Boeing field via Kenmore Air, but he got fogged in. Then the next day he was able to get on the flight, but only to Friday Harbor; this cardboard cutout went through a whole lot of trouble to make it here, but thanks to the coordination of people on different islands, he arrived safely.”

The two coordinators, Nancy Schafer and Dr. Magda Mische, were able to put the event together in less than nine days. “People brought food, and it was just a great community event. I wanted to create the opportunity for people to get together, and to be able to have a place to celebrate all the work that went into getting Obama elected.” They recorded the inauguration at its early hour and then later in the day, played the event back on DVD. Later, more people stayed to watch the rest of the inauguration festivities on satellite. Schafer said, “A big thanks to John from the Outlook Inn for making it possible to have the event with so many people, as well as Ben Shepherd and Samara Shaw.”

On Lopez Island, the celebration started at 7:00 am at the Lopez Island Community Center, but at around 8:30 am it became apparent that internet sites which were streaming the event were overloaded. Despite almost 150 people showing up for a breakfast potluck with cornbread, scones, coffee and pastries, most celebrants went back to their homes or cars. A small group went to a local restaurant, the Galley, where they enjoyed “Obamalets” and watched the inaugural events via satellite TV.