Lynchburg Obama fans take bus to D.C.

Cynthia Hurt, 42, has an Obama hat, an Obama shirt, a jacket, a belt, and also a watch bearing not only the image of the new president but also his wife, now the first lady.

“This is a day I’ll always cherish,” said Hurt, of Lynchburg. “It’s something I can tell my children and my children’s children about one day. If I can hold back the tears.”

On Tuesday, a group of 47 Obama supporters hailing predominantly from Lynchburg braved hours of arctic chills and often confusing crowds to bear witness to history in the making.

The group — which left Lynchburg by bus at 10:30 p.m. Monday and returned late Tuesday evening — made the trek to D.C. in hopes of catching a glimpse of the ceremony that would make Barack Obama president of the United States.

“This is a life-changing experience for me,” said Gardean Fleshman, 52, of Lynchburg. “Everyone’s been saying we didn’t think we would see this in our lifetime.”

After a ride punctuated with chatter, jokes and songs ranging from hymns to Motown, the bus arrived at its designated parking spot in Washington at 5 a.m.

From there it was a mile or so walk to the National Mall. The group scattered into the predawn darkness amid the crowds. Some were able to cover more ground than others.

Rodjray Rose, 28, managed to get so far to the front of the sprawling crowd on the National Mall that he found himself next to the MSNBC broadcast booth.

“I met Joe Scarborough (of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”),” he said.

Rose said he found it surprisingly moving to see the array of red, white and blue glory adorning the Capitol building in honor of the inauguration. “You usually only see that kind of thing on television,” he said.

Justine Haythe, 41, and Lisa Beverley, 44, weren’t able to make it onto the Mall, but a quick call back home helped them follow the program. Haythe’s mother held her phone up to her television, allowing their group to hear the live broadcast of the swearing-in.

Beverley said she was just happy to be there. “I’m just glad it happened,” she said, adding, “People are ready for change. They’re excited about it.”

“I saw people crying. Young people, old people. It was something.”

The trip was not without its hiccups.

The bus arrived late. Icy temperatures kept people blue in the face. Massive crowds made it difficult to move from one point to another. And, at the end of the day, several people got lost looking for their way back to the bus — the last of those were rounded up at 6 p.m., about four hours after the scheduled meet-up time.

But no matter.

“This has been a beautiful and joyous trip,” said Cheryl Glass, a grassroots Obama supporter in Lynchburg during the campaign and one of the key organizers of the visit.

“We will be back (for the next one),” she added.

Even at the height of those adverse conditions, riders didn’t lose sight of what had drawn them to the city that day.

“I’m trying not to think about being cold,” Sylvia Coles, 57, of Lynchburg, said at about 8 a.m. after making it to the Mall, hours of waiting still ahead of her.

“Just think of Hawaii,” joked Jackie Booker, 45, of Madison Heights, breaking out into a little hula dance.

Coles had a different remedy in mind. “Once Obama takes that oath, I’ll forget about the cold,” she said.

Eager Obama supporters waited hours on the National Mall until the swearing-in festivities formally began at 10 a.m. and longer still until Obama’s oath and speech started around noon.

Looking well-rested — a bus rider had noted the new president looked tired on CNN the day before — Obama took to the stage and spoke of America’s future and the need for all citizens to band together to ensure the country’s success.

“Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter,” he said, his voice reverberating through half a dozen speakers, creating an echo that resounded throughout the entire Mall.

This call to action would be one of the things Hurt remembered best later when the riders regrouped and prepared to return home.

“He talked about how it was going to take all of us to make this change successfully, that it was not just he who was going to do it,” she said, calling it inspiring. “He included all of us. … We all have a part to play.”

She spoke of the story she’d tell her children and grandchildren, a story of hope and promise and possibility.

“I’ll tell them it’s true,” said Hurt, who like most of the other passengers was African-American, “… if you just believe and hold onto your faith, your dreams can come true.”

She stared off into the distance a moment as she pondered that idea. Then she smiled and shook her head. “That’s just wild.”