Inauguration Watch
A crowd gathered at The Miracle Mile Shops to watch the inauguration on large video screens Tuesday morning.
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The party lasted well into Tuesday night but for many guests at the Las Vegas Inaugural Ball, the euphoria will continue through President Barack Obama's first term in the White House.
Celebrants of the local ball held at at the Canyon Gate Country Club spoke about Obama's inauguration earlier in the day as "historic," while they watched with "tears of joy" as he addressed the nation.
For Sylvia Allen, a retired executive from International Game Technology, the president's speech was also a call to action as he encouraged Americans to become more involved in their communities.
"This is probably the most massive turnaround in our history," she said. "This is a turnaround we must participate in, not just wait for him to execute. He does not get to do this by himself. The government does not get to do this themselves. This requires the engagement of all of us as citizens of the United States."
Allen was among the ball guests who posed with a cardboard statue of the president. She shook the hand of the real man last year.
Revelers also held Obama masks to their faces, sipped "Obama-tinis" and were digitally added into portraits of the president and first lady.
The inauguration in Washington, D.C., was a can't-miss event for many people in Las Vegas.
Irene Bustamante brought a television to her job at CityCenter to watch the speech and parade. Some of her staff took the day off so they wouldn't miss watching any of the activities in the nation's capital.
Her sister, Diana Bustamante, a high school counselor, watched it on a small, 13-inch screen television that a coworker brought to school.
"It was the first (inauguration) I've ever watched and I didn't realize it was so formal with so much tradition. It was very moving for me to watch history as it happened," Irene Bustamante said.
Air Force veteran Chris Reid said he remembers the inaugurations of Presidents Clinton, Kennedy and Eisenhower. Obama's inauguration is one to remember, he said.
"I like to see positive things and everybody included in everything," he said. "He's putting this country back on the right path."
Christopher Young, an attorney, said he couldn't be more proud to be an American with Obama representing the nation to the world.
"He is an absolute brilliant man that inspires the older generation but also the younger generation," he said. "With the world we live in today, that's important as our country moves forward."
Lucille Young, a beauty consultant, took a note from Obama's campaign and spun it forward to show how she feels about the country's future.
"Basically he said, 'Yes, we can.' So I say, 'Yes, we will,'" she said.
The Las Vegas Inaugural Ball was also a fundraiser for Young Entrepreneurs Soaring to Success, a nonprofit program that prepares high school students for business careers.
The program's founders, Mya Lake Reyes and Ron Washington, hosted the ball. The election of the country's first black president was the best motivation to show the teens what is possible, they said.
"With the election of President Obama, I thought what a wonderful possibility to expand it and involve more children in the program," Reyes said.
Coronado High School student Jelani Kamal, 16, was one of the 15 teens selected for the upcoming 20-week YESS program. He has a business plan to start a teen peer-tutoring company.
Kamal watched the inauguration festivities in class during the day. He said he feels that with Obama as president and with support from the business community that his future is brighter.
"It was a great piece of history to watch and now be a part of," he said.
Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or [email protected].
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