Lehigh Valley and New Jersey residents were out and about the nation's capital this morning for the inaugural ceremonies. Vote in the NEWS POLL.
For Easton Area High School graduate Erica Kliment, today's presidential inauguration ceremonies were doubly special.
Kliment, a sophomore international affairs student at George Washington University, made the short walk from her student residence to the National Mall to witness the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.
"I'm mostly excited that I'm just lucky enough to be living in (Washington) D.C. this weekend," said Kliment, of Forks Township. "I'm happy that the candidate that I supported ended up winning."
Kliment was not alone in representing the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey this morning for the inaugural ceremonies, which reportedly drew roughly a million visitors to the nation's capital to watch the president take the oath of office.
In December, Pohatcong Township resident Jane Nagy found out she would walk in the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, a symbolic procession that leads the president from the U.S. Capitol to his home in the White House.
Nagy is a longtime dog raiser for Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit provider of trained assistance dogs to children and adults with disabilities. She was expected to walk her latest trainee, a 19-month-old Labrador and golden retriever mix named Engles, through the parade procession as part of the group's float. The parade starts at 2:30 this afternoon.
Nagy said she was privileged not only be a part of the inaugural ceremonies but to showcase her passion.
"I'm extremely excited because I think it's an opportunity of a lifetime," Nagy said. "The opportunity to raise that kind of awareness is just super."
Christine Roling, Nagy's neighbor and fellow dog raiser, marched in the parade with her 8-month old Labrador and golden retriever mix, Holiday.
"I'm very honored to have been asked and I can't wait for my dogs to be shown off that way," Roling said.
Members of local political committees made the trek down to Washington for today's ceremonies.
Joyce Moore, coordinator for the Lehigh County Democratic Committee, said that two buses of roughly 75 people made the trip from Allentown this morning.
"It's the fruit of our labors," said Moore, who served as a neighborhood team leader for Obama's re-election campaign in the Emmaus area. "Seeing him take the oath of office is even more meaningful than working on the campaign. I've been waiting for this for years."
Moore said that the group is hoping to return to Allentown by 10 o'clock tonight for an Inaugural Ball-style event at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant.
"If any of us have any further energy from Washington, we'll be joining our compatriots in Allentown," Moore said.
Northampton County Democratic Committee Chairman Walt Garvin said committee members from his county also attended.
Although the morning's crowds were reportedly a far cry from those seen for Obama's first presidential inauguration in 2009, Kliment and other Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey transplants in the area still thought of the occasion as an event not to be missed.
Had presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received the nod, Kliment said her enthusiasm might have waned slightly, but she would have still been out on the National Mall, braving the January weather for a glance at history.
"I would still go," Kliment said. "I just wouldn't have been as excited about it, I think. How can you not do it?"