By Magen Petit
Staff Columnist
YORK COUNTY —
The Weekly Sentinel has accomplished another milestone in its bid to serve the people of York County with news they want to read.
“In three short years of publication, this newspaper has become the largest circulated newspaper in the county and will start its fourth year as the only weekly newspaper to report on the Presidential Inauguration with its own staff reporter in attendance,” reported Mark Wilcox, The Weekly Sentinel’s publisher.
The Weekly Sentinel’s very own Staff Columnist Devin Beliveau will have a preferred placement while viewing the swearing-in ceremony of the new president followed by the Inaugural Parade. He will also cover the Youth Inaugural Ball, which will be hosted by President-elect Barack Obama. Beliveau is a Kittery resident and a history teacher at Thornton Academy in Saco.
“The Youth ball is intended for young Americans aged 18-35 and will celebrate the inauguration of the new president and the role young Americans can play to serve their communities,” according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC).
The President-elect and the Vice President-elect Joe Biden will appear at a total of ten inaugural balls.
“President-elect Obama will host the Youth Inaugural Ball, five Regional Inaugural balls, and a ball for his home states — Illinois and Hawaii. Vice President-elect Biden will host a ball for his home states as well — Delaware and Pennsylvania,” according to the PIC.
The coverage will begin with a luncheon featuring traditional Maine and New Zealand cuisine to celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Obama at the New Zealand Embassy, which will be hosted by His Excellency Roy Ferguson and Mrs. Dawn Ferguson and Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau and Pachios, one of Portland, Maine’s most prestigious law firms.
According to the Inauguration of the President 2009 Events web site, the luncheon “often features cuisine reflecting the home states of the new President and Vice President, as well as the theme of the Inauguration, the Luncheon program includes speeches, gift presentations from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), and toasts to the new administration. While this tradition dates as far back as 1897, when the Senate Committee on Arrangements first gave a luncheon for President McKinley and several other guests at the U.S. Capitol, it did not begin in its current form until 1953.”
The honored guests include Governor John E. Baldacci, Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan M. Collins, Congressman Michael H. Michaud, Congresswoman Chellie M. Pingree, and former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell.
On Tuesday, January 20, the Inaugural Parade follows the Inaugural Address and will make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. The PIC selected the Sanford High School band from Sanford, Maine to march in the parade in Washington, D.C.
Other events during the day of inauguration include musical selections from the United States Marine Band, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Aretha Franklin, John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill.
For more information on the schedule of events, visit www.pic2009.org.
The Weekly Sentinel will publish a special Presidential Inaugural edition the following Friday, January 23 including many stories of historical interest to its readers.
