‘Shoulder to shoulder’

Sharon Ponton and her son, Christopher McElfish Jr., made it onto the National Mall with hopes of being one of the millions to see, in person, President Barack Obama take the oath of office and be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

However, even with tickets stamped with the presidential seal, Ponton, of Lovingston, and her son were not able to maneuver among the millions and pass through security. But they did get to watch on television, mere minutes away from the excitement, and had a close encounter with Obama and new first lady Michelle Obama at the Neighborhood Ball.

In a journal she kept throughout the election, Ponton shared her memories not only of the election and inauguration festivities, but of the work she and other Nelson County Democrats did campaigning for the new president.

“The crowd was the same blend of people ... folks from all walks of life, all ethnicities, all backgrounds, children, young, old,” Ponton wrote in the journal. “It was just so tremendous to be among such a diverse group of people, everyone sharing their stories of how happy they were.”

At the Neighborhood Ball, Ponton and McElfish saw numerous musicians and celebrities, including Beyonce, who serenaded Barack and Michelle Obama.

“When Beyonce sang ‘At Last’ to President and Mrs. Obama, there was not a dry eye around us,” Ponton wrote. “People were screaming and chanting, and I know I’ve said this before, but it was overwhelming, awe-inspiring, amazing.”

Ponton and her son were turned away from the Inauguration Day festivities on the Mall, and while disappointed, she described a happily chaotic scene, trying to maneuver amid a sea of millions of people, all hoping to witness history.

The two got up early Tuesday morning with hopes of getting onto the mall, but with so many streets closed around the U.S. Capitol, they had to keep walking. At 8 a.m., gates for ticket-holders opened and Ponton and McElfish were in line, but they never got through the security screening. Behind them, a mass of people stood elbow to elbow for four blocks. Ponton and her son got past the gate, but then stood for another 90 minutes without moving.

“Not one inch,” she wrote. “They closed down our security screening area and that was it. We didn’t get in.”

Later she met two members of the National Guard from Iowa, who asked how Ponton and her son were doing. After telling them they didn’t get in, even with tickets, one of them told her, “maam, we’ve heard a lot of that this morning.”

The two were able to make it, however, to the home of Ted Yoder, who until that day had been a stranger to them. A friend of Ponton’s, Tori Holt, an out-of-state Obama volunteer, arranged for the two to stay with Yoder during the inauguration festivities.

Ponton believes the estimate of 4,000 to 5,000 people who didn’t get in was “a gross underestimation.”

“Let us in, let us in,” she recalled chanting. “But they did not. Honestly, I was devastated. I cried. We were not in a position to do anything, so Chris and I walked briskly back to Ted’s and got to see most of the inauguration on his television set.”

The crowd was diverse and full of spirit, she said. While others who, like her, didn’t get in were frustrated, it “could not dampen the spirit that existed in Washington on Tuesday.”

Reflecting on her experience, Ponton said that for all the talk of Obama’s speeches being, “just words,” she said they were words of hope, and a vision for a better future for the country that inspired millions to brave cold conditions “to celebrate not his achievements, but our achievements.”

Ponton thought back to the first weekend of campaigning, helping to outfit the Nelson County Obama headquarters in Lovingston and helping to knock on 2,000 doors in the final days before the election.

“We heard him say frequently that this was not about him, that it was about us,” Ponton said. “We stood shoulder to shoulder – black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, young, old, gay, straight, immigrant, disabled, Christian, Jew, Muslim – and proudly demonstrated to the world who we are: a good and decent people who yearn for a brighter tomorrow for our children and the restoration of our moral standing in the world.”