By now you’ve got your Presidential Inaugural plans done — where you’ll be for the train stop, how many layers of clothes you’ll wear, the parties you’ll go to and where you’ll be for the formalities of the 20th. We can’t forget, though, that right here we have just as important and exciting Inaugural events celebrating the incoming Markell and Denn administration:
- An Interfaith Prayer Service held Friday, January 16, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the Carter Partnership Center on the Jack F. Owens Campus of Delaware Technical & Community College in Georgetown. We missed this one, but it was also webcast up on the State’s website.
- A Celebration of the Arts, Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. This is free and open to the public to the venue’s capacity. Folks attending are asked to bring a canned good or two for the Delaware Food Bank.
- The Swearing In Ceremony Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. at Mitchell Hall on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark. This is the short official ceremony that takes care of the Constitutional requirements while leaving everyone free to for their Presidential Inauguration festivities. This is also free to the public up to the capacity of the venue. There will be an overflow location with simulcast feed of the ceremony. Doors of Mitchell Hall open at 11:30 PM and everyone is asked to being a food donation for the Delaware Food Bank. If you can’t make the swearing in, you can watch from your jammies at home via the State’s Website.
- The Inauguration Ceremony Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 11 a.m at on Legislative Mall in downtown Dover. This is the traditional ceremonial location and is outdoors. There is an alternative site in case of bad weather. At the end of the ceremony, there is a traditional receiving line to allow Gov. Markell and Lt. Gov. Denn (read that again — awesome!) to meet well-wishers. Apparently parking close to the Mall site is not going to be available to the public, so you’ll need to park at the Blue Hen Corporate Center and be prepared to be bussed over.
- To celebrate their inauguration, Jack and Matt have declared Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 a Weekend of Service with volunteer projects around the state. If you haven’t volunteered for the Delaware Liberal volunteer event at the Food Bank, there are other opportunities (as well as a way to log your project) at www.betterdelaware.org.
- And, of course, there is the Delaware Liberal Inaugural Ball where we’ll be celebrating Jack and Matt, meeting each other, and tasting some fine Italian wines. The proceeds of this event go to the folks at Autism Delaware who do amazing work. We really hope to meet all of you there. And Donviti pities the fool who won’t come out to get a picture taken with the DV.
More information about the official Inaugural Events is here.
Let us know if you plan on going to any of the Official Events or if you know of other events not captured here.