In D.C., residents share their tales

<p>Two of Gainesville's biggest donors to the Presidential Inauguration Committee came within blocks of sitting in the "very important people section" for the inauguration when human gridlock turned them back.</p><p>Both Gainesville attorney Christopher Chestnut and developer Rick Thompson had coveted "blue tickets" for the event and were among thousands who waited in line for hours never reaching the gate.</p><p>"We had tickets for preferred seating, but we couldn't get through and after three hours of waiting in line, we watched the speech from the lobby of the hotel," Christopher Chestnut, 29, said Tuesday from Washington, D.C. "It was a little disappointing, but not as disappointing as missing his entire speech. It was still rewarding to just be amongst the people."</p><p>The Chestnut Firm, which was started in Gainesville in 2006, is listed as donating $2,000 to the inauguration.</p><p>Thompson, who donated $10,000 to the inaugural committee, and his wife also waited in line for more than three hours and were almost to the front when the gate was closed.</p><p>"It was literally thousands who didn't get in with the same tickets," Thompson said.</p><p>But like Chestnut, he was in good spirits after the speech.</p><p>"It was so much fun seeing people from everywhere. We met a couple in line from the Virgin Islands. This whole weekend has been incredible."</p><p>One Alachua County resident who was not disappointed, however, was inauguration ticket winner Cyndi Russell, who along with nine other contestants in the nation received the royal treatment this week.</p><p>Russell, who owns three businesses in Gainesville, and her longtime boyfriend Chris Buffington attended the bipartisan dinner in honor of Vice President Joe Biden on Monday night and heard President Barack Obama speak.</p><p>On Tuesday they attended the inauguration with tickets that got them close but not close enough to see the stage. Tuesday night they planned to attend the Neighborhood Ball - the ball hosted by the Obamas.</p><p>"The Inauguration Committee has just treated us like royalty," said Russell, as she was preparing for the ball at Capitol Hill Suites.</p><p>"The most incredible thing is all the people I've met. Everybody is in like a hyper state of joy. Everybody is just on a happy pill."</p><p>Obama has repeatedly called this the most open inauguration event ever and has attempted to thwart big-money corporations from using money to garner favor.</p><p>As a result, almost $41 million was raised without donations from corporations, political action committees, currently federally registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents.</p><p>Hunt and Jeanne Davis, who have lived in Gainesville since 1967, attended the inauguration with their son and grandson with tickets that gave them access to the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol steps.</p><p>"Getting to the staging area wasn't any trouble, but it took us an hour and a half just to get into the area where we were allotted to be," Hunt Davis said. "Everybody was good-natured and started chanting 'let us in' and waving their tickets. Then we broke like a flood and we got into the grounds."</p><p>City Commissioner Lauren Poe and his fiance, Emily Monda, didn't have tickets, which were in high demand and had limited availability.</p><p>Instead the couple filed into the National Mall near the Washington Memorial.</p><p>"It's just amazing. As far as you can see, the roads are just a sea of people," Poe said as he waited on a balcony overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue for the parade to start.</p><p>"It was certainly like nothing I'd ever experienced before," he said of seeing Obama's speech from within the throng of overjoyed supporters. "He actually really reinforced a lot of feelings I've been having lately.</p><p>"As much hope and faith as the people who elected him have placed on his shoulders, he's one guy, and if we're going to overcome the challenges that are ahead, it's our collective actions that are going to make that happen."</p>