Georgians visiting the nation’s capital for the inauguration were treated to a glitzy, sold-out and — rarest of all — bipartisan bash Sunday night to ring in the swearing-in of President Barack Obama.
Atlanta native Gladys Knight sang and former Braves slugger Hank Aaron worked the room among 1,100 Georgians and friends at a party with a price tag topping $300,000 put on by the Georgia State Society.
Obama was officially sworn in Sunday but will be again Monday before several hundred thousand chilly spectators on the National Mall. Many of them put on formalwear to hit the town for a series of parties Sunday night; U.S. Rep. David Scott, the Atlanta Democrat who hosted the affair, was proud that the Georgia event was one of the town’s hottest tickets — starting at $150 a pop.
“It’s a great statement for where Georgia stands in terms of states in this nation — the importance of it, the significance of it,” Scott said. “These balls are very important in the minds of people, so it’s important that we use this opportunity to brand Georgia as a great state with a great, great opportunity for everyone — great promise, great people, great culture, great food.”
Among the party’s scheduled performers were Knight — of “Midnight Train to Georgia” fame — and the Georgia State University marching band, which is also perfoming in Monday’s inaugural parade. The GSU band brought cheers with its rendition of “Georgia on my Mind.”
Corporate sponsors for the event – which chipped in more than $200,000 – included Aflac, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS, Kia Motors and Georgia Power. The event raised another $100,000-plus in ticket sales, said Ashling Thurmond Osborne, president of the Georgia State Society. The National Museum of Women in the Arts was the setting, a Renaissance Revival building with grand marble staircases.
Georgia’s Washington-based social society has been around since 1885 and stakes a claim to being the oldest state society in D.C. It threw its first inaugural bash four years ago.
“We made that decision in the first gala that we would always do one regardless of who’s president,” Osborne said.
The society’s board members come from both sides of the aisle, and Sunday’s crowd included Republican U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, Austin Scott of Tifton and Jack Kingston of Savannah.
“It’s a show of support and respect for the commander-in-chief and the President of the United States,” Gingrey said of his participation in the weekend.
The streets and subways of the nation’s capital have been flooded by out-of-towners, many of whom got sought-after tickets to the public swearing-in from their member of Congress.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican, spent Sunday afternoon posing for photographs with a virtually nonstop parade of constituents picking up their tickets.
Isakson campaigned against Obama and has fought to stymie much of his agenda in Congress. But Isakson will be there Monday, out of respect for a vital tradition that endures regardless of who is taking the oath.
“This is the greatest democracy ever envisioned, ever created, ever put together,” Isakson said. “It meets significant challenges, as we’re trying to meet today. But in the end it’s a civilized and civil government in a world where there aren’t many of ‘em.”
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