Eyes were glued to TV screens all across town (and across the country), as Barack Obama took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural speech.
I found myself with a group of neighbors from the Village District, at Planning and Zoning Commissioner, Catherine Johnson's house, where she labored over a delicious lunch as we cheered the new president on. Strangely, we gathered at a house where the TV signal was pure analog, and the reception was not always perfect.
I also stopped at the Russell librarywhere a large group gathered to hear the speech, and where Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, a Middletown resident, conducted the community conversation.
A vocal group was also found at the Firehouse Grill, but I stopped at the Green Street Arts Center and found that no one had shown up for discussion.
As noted in an earlier post, discussions occured in a number of locations around town.
Other conversations will take place this evening (see schedule), as well as an inaugural jazz celebration at Public restaurant on Main.
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And still Other Conversations occurred spontaneously, like the gathering in the bar at First And Last--the Rotarians who abandoned their meeting in the back room because we could not bear to miss the historic moment, the patrons waiting for menus, and the African American bartender who could not stop the tears streaming down his face, but also could not stop working long enough to fully savour the moment with us.
But he was not alone in his tears and his Amens.
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