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Inauguration Strikes A Chord

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Mark Hagger hugs his wife Madeline Orio-Hagger at the inauguration of Barack Obama watched at the Tampa Theater where the ceremony was projected on the movie theater screen.

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2009

Updated:

When Barack Obama flubbed a line while being sworn in as 44th president of the United States, a crowd of more than 100 at the New Port Richey Library good-naturedly laughed with him.

When the nation's first black president spoke of establishing "unity of purpose over conflict and discord" and said that all Americans "deserve the opportunity to pursue the full measure of their happiness," the enthusiastic crowd applauded loudly.

Adele Connelly, who recently moved to the area from Delaware, shed tears throughout Obama's inaugural address Tuesday.

"He's so inspirational," she said. "He captures the spirit of the country in a way I haven't seen in years. He has inspired a whole generation to care again about politics after decades of apathy.

"I lived outside Washington, D.C., in the '60s and haven't seen that in years. People have been so pessimistic about the future and distrustful of politicians. His enthusiasm has inspired generations of people."

Connelly stopped speaking and seemed to absorb the moment. She was soon smiling again and raising her hands like a victorious boxer.

"I'm just so excited!"

The mood at the library was upbeat as soon as people began filtering to the upstairs room around 11 a.m. While most people seemed genuinely happy that Obama was being sworn in, some also expressed bitterness over the tenure of outgoing President George W. Bush.

John Giardina, 68, of Port Richey wore a white Obama hat and an Obama T-shirt underneath his jacket. The New York native said he never thought he would see the day a black man was elected president, because "the country has been so divided with the race thing."

"This is the first time I've done anything like this," he said of watching an inauguration ceremony in public. "I'm just so happy to see Bush gone. We're trading arrogance and incompetence for hope, inspiration and truth."

The lively crowd watched CNN on a large projection screen and two televisions hung from the ceiling. Ann Scott, outreach director at the library, said the library recently was awarded the televisions through a grant.

"I can't think of a better way to use them," she said.

Scott noted that the crowd was fairly quiet at first, but grew louder as the ceremony progressed.

As Aretha Franklin prepared to sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee," one woman yelled, "Let it rip!"

Bill Powers, 85, said he made the trip from Palm Harbor at the suggestion of a daughter in California.

"She said I might like to be around a bunch of like-minded people," he said. "I have a lady friend who sees [politics] differently. When I told her I was coming here, she said, 'You're going to be with all those radicals?'

Powers said he had never spent much time considering whether or not the country would ever elect a black president.

"I try to look at it objectively," he said. "I can't understand how anybody could accept what's happened over the last eight years. [But Obama] seems like he's competent and what we need. He'll need an awful lot of help."

Joann Swanson, a part-time Holiday resident and self-described "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat," said she expects Obama to "do great things." She said she was first inspired by his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

"I thought, 'This man is amazing,'" she said. "I probably thought then that he'd be president someday."

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