Iola freshmen Gus Hopkins and Zack St. Clair left early this morning for a trip of a lifetime — the 57th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C.
Hopkins and St. Clair were awarded partial scholarships through the National Young Leaders Conference (NYLC) to attend the ceremony.
They needed to raise roughly $3,000 each. They met that figure and have a little bit of money for spending.
“We made flyers and held a car wash,” St. Clair said.
This will not be their first time at the capitol; they attended a NYLC conference where they were brought around to the major historical monuments. This trip has a feel of celebration.
“I thought it would be a lot more formal but it seems like it will be a lot more laid back. They have a concert and karaoke for us,” St. Clair said. “I was really surprised.”
Their days in D.C. are already planned. Saturday evening they will relax and get to know other students from all over the world. Sunday is the concert and karaoke. Monday is the inauguration. Tuesday is the gala event at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Wednesday they come home.
St. Clair said their itineraries are detailed even down to what they should wear to each event.
At the gala, St. Clair said he would be wearing a tuxedo and Hopkins will be business professional with slacks and a tie.
“I am looking forward to the gala,” St. Clair said. “It seems like it will be the most fun and the biggest chance of meeting the president and vice president.”
St. Clair said his grandfather, Glen Singer, attended President Reagan’s inauguration and he said the president and vice president try to make a stop at all the major galas that evening.
At the inauguration the National Mall fills up with people from all over the world and people in the back sections, closer to the Lincoln Memorial, watch the ceremony on a jumbotron, which is where the NYLC group will be.
St. Clair’s mother, Ruth, was able to purchase a ticket for her son to watch the ceremony from the seating area.
On inauguration day the NYLC students will leave their hotel by 5:30 a.m. even though the inauguration doesn’t begin until noon.
Hopkins and St. Clair aren’t nervous about the big trip, but the same couldn’t be said for their families. The Iola teens said their mothers are worried.
“Washington D.C. is a lot bigger, a lot more traffic,” St. Clair said.
“It is definitely a visiting place, not a living place,” Hopkins added.
IOLANS DELVE INTO POLITICS
