TC Women Attend Inaguration Letter to the Editor

Women in D.C. to attend inaguration

They plan to 'tear up' the town
By BRIAN McGILLIVARY
Record-Eagle staff writer

TRAVERSE CITY- Six area Republican volunteers are enjoying a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" as they attend inauguration ceremonies for President George W. Bush.
"I'm really charged up for it," said Janet Reed of Traverse City. "It's such an honor."
All six women, regular volunteers at the Republican Action Center in Traverse City, decided to make the trip after a little prodding from Suzanne Allen, wife of state Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City.
"She said, 'You guys will have a ball' and we decided to go," Linda Witt said.
The six volunteers immediately assigned each other to booking airline tickets and reserving hotel rooms, while the Allens and U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, helped with invitations and tickets.
"We should encourage people from northern Michigan to attend," Jason Allen said. "It's a once-every-four-years opportunity."
Holly Gallagher said the election of Bush was something the women all worked for during the campaign, and they're looking forward to celebrating and welcoming his second term.
The other local traveling volunteers include Lois Boekenstein, Barbara Bachi and Jenny Lee Strait.
This will be the first inauguration for each, and for most of the women this will be their first trip to Washington, D.C .
"I'll be there with all of these ladies and we'll just tear up the town," Reed said. "We thought we'd do a lot more sight-seeing, but we got invited to all of these parties."
They were scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C., at noon on Wednesday and attended their first of several receptions at 5 p.m.
"There are a myriad of pre-parties and they are fun to attend," said Allen, who arrived Tuesday with his family.
The women's schedule today includes breakfast with Camp, a parade viewing party, the swearing-in ceremony and the Michigan State Society Ball at the American Heritage Museum.
"It's not the presidential ball, but we heard this is a lot more fun," Reed said.
All six bought new gowns for the ball.
"We're excited about the ball and our gowns," Gallagher said, "though we're still not sure who we will dance with because it's all us six women."
Despite the excitement for the ball, Gallagher, Witt and Reed said they expect the swearing-in ceremony to be the highlight of the trip.
"It will be a monumental moment for me," Gallagher said.




Traverse City Record Eagle
Letters to the Editor

January 21, 2005

I read about the women going to Washington D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration. It sounds like a good time. Could I suggest some places for them to stop while in DC? Get away from the mall for an afternoon and go take a look at a run down part of town, go take a look at what a poor urban area looks like and talk to some of the folks that live there about tax relief. You can compare how much you’re saving and how much they were able to save, it will be fun, kind of like a game. On the way back from there, (take the bus, you’ll blend right in and have more opportunities to talk to people about where you live and how your day to day life goes, maybe offer up some Cherry Festival t-shirts), stop by the Vietnam War Memorial and pause to compare how the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are going to be effected by their tours and how Vietnam effected that wars veterans. Maybe scout out a good spot for a memorial for the soldiers who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. How big do you think it’s going to have to be? Kind of hard to say right now.
When you go to the swearing in itself do something nutty like wear a t-shirt or pin that says something crazy like “Peace”, or “Stop the Violence”, or “End the War”, anything like that and see if they let you in. Good luck, those words are not allowed in that kind of setting, you may even need to sign a loyalty oath. I know it sounds weird, but just sign the paper, why rock the boat?
If you are still looking for someone to dance with at one of those parties, maybe you can “tear it up”, with one of the soldiers that are recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They may or may not be able to dance with you, but won’t it be fun to talk them about what it’s like in Fallujah right now? I guess that whole city was destroyed, just to save it if you can believe that, ask them about it, they might have been there.
Maybe while you are at one of those parties you can find out what's going on with the people that have been locked up down in Cuba. Have they been able to a talk to another human other than a guard since they have been there? You're right, you're right, Rumsfeld says they are guilty so they must be guilty. Three years is a long time to be in jail without being charged, but it's for our safety and that trumps justice any day. Here is a great conversation starter if the dancing doesn’t work out:
“Hey if it’s not lethal, it’s not torture.” Boy does that set people off on tangents!
On your way out of town maybe stop by the new Native American Museum and compare our genocidal tendencies as we pioneered this country to our current actions and policies in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. (The book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”, should be on sale in the gift store, it’s a good place to start if you don’t know what I’m talking about). While you’re at the museum see if you can find out why so many native people are now suffering from diabetes, some say it’s an epidemic. There also may be some info about how some of the Inuit communities are suing the United States because they believe our country is contributing to Global Warming and we're violating their human rights. Something about thousands of years of tradition and ice melting, keep your eyes open.
It should be a fun trip, and I'm sorry that I'm not going to be there. I guess I have some other things on my mind, but believe it or not I will take a moment and wave my flag a little and reflect on the significance of the day, but pardon me if I'm not doing any dancing.

Jeremy Oswald
Washburn, Wisconsin
Born and raised in Traverse City

PO Box 551
Washburn,WI 54891
715-373-0186
jermy@surfmail.net