WASHINGTON – Hundreds of people from Washington state were on hand Friday as Donald Trump became the 45th U.S. president. Some came to support him, while others wanted to learn firsthand about a peaceful change of administration. And two used the trip to combine politics with love.
“Amazing memories,” said Ashley Butenschoen, of Lynden, a supporter of Trump, who attended the inauguration with her husband, Chad, on the day of the 11th wedding anniversary.
Brimming with excitement, Butenschoen said everything is “surreal.”
The mother of four got interested in public policy when she researched federal learning disability laws because her son is dyslexic. “One thing has led to another,” said Butenschoen, who became politically active after attending a Trump rally in her hometown. She later volunteered for the Republican party and now manages social media for the Republican Women of Whatcom County.
She had tickets to the swearing-in from Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. She also had tickets to one of Friday night’s presidential inaugural balls.
As the parade was preparing to start, Butenschoen headed out to get her ball gown and her husband’s tuxedo. Then planned to celebrate Trump’s move to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well as their anniversary amid the music and dancing at the ball.
Tim Messersmith, a U.S. history and civics teacher at Peninsula High School in Tacoma, had a
different objective for his trip to Washington. He took eight students from Peninsula High School and Bellarmine Preparatory School to witness the “peaceful transfer of power.”
“I think it was successful,” Messersmith said while waiting in line with his students to get into a
Metro station after the inauguration. He said the students were excited and paid attention to the “inspiring” speeches.
“I liked Trump’s ‘unifying speech’,” Messersmith said, adding that it was a good demonstration
of the peacefulness he wanted to show the students.
The students, who were staying at a hotel in nearby Virginia, had been practicing debate
techniques on issues like college affordability and voting age. Messersmith said he asked students to keep journals of their Washington trip.
Kaitlyn Sill, associate professor of politics and government at Pacific Lutheran University in
Tacoma, is teaching a class for the school in Washington so she took her class to the
inauguration, too.
Although some students didn’t want to go to the inauguration, Sill said the purpose of the class
is to recognize the importance of participating in democracy.
“It’s easy to only attend events where like-minded people gather, but it’s extremely valuable to
me to personally be exposed and immerse myself in a variety of circumstances,” Sill, 33, said.
At the ceremony outside the Capitol, the crowd was not all calm. Sill said her students saw a man, apparently a Trump supporter, intended to “take a swing” at a woman who was holding a protest sign, but failed.
“He missed, hit a different woman and ran away,” Sill said. “We then gathered around her to help prevent that.”
Messersmith called some in the crowd “eccentric,” compared with the 2013 inauguration.
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