{"id":34076,"date":"2013-01-24T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T13:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=34076"},"modified":"2013-01-25T03:10:12","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T08:10:12","slug":"vw-teenager-attends-presidential-inauguration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/01\/24\/vw-teenager-attends-presidential-inauguration\/","title":{"rendered":"Local teen attends Obama inauguration"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/<\/strong>independent feature writer<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Aurora Longstreth poses in front of the Lincoln Memorial during her recent trip to Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration. (photo submitted)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aurora Longstreth is over-the-top excited — and exhausted.<\/p>\n

The 2012 Van Wert High School graduate and freshman at the University of Toledo recently returned from a trip that she says overwhelmed her — in a good way. Longstreth, daughter of Doug and Marybeth Longstreth of Van Wert, recently arrived home from Washington, D.C., where she watched President Barack Obama\u2019s Inauguration.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s proud that somewhere mixed in with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Monday\u2019s ceremony was a little slice of Van Wert, Ohio. \u201cI knew I would never have the chance again, and I really wanted to just be a small part of such a historical event,\u201d Longstreth said.<\/p>\n

The excitement actually began on the plane to Washington when Longstreth realized she was in the presence of musical greatness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly could not believe it,\u201d she said of the surprise guest on the plane. \u201cI\u2019m such a huge fan of Stevie Wonder, and he was sitting right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longstreth quickly snapped a picture with her phone to capture the once-in-a-lifetime moment. \u201cI just went for it. I knew I wouldn\u2019t have the opportunity again,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be rude, so I just kind of snuck my phone out and took a quick picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

After landing in D.C., Longstreth met her cousin, who had previously worked on the Democratic National Convention Committee, and together the girls toured the nation\u2019s capital amidst heavy security and massive crowds. \u201cI honestly could not believe all the people,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were just so many people you could hardly move anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day of the Inauguration, the women made their way down to the Capitol Building at approximately 5:30 a.m. and anxiously awaited the arrival of the President. \u201cWhen we could see the motorcade coming, I just started thinking \u2018this is really happening. I am really here witnessing this.\u2019 It was just so surreal. From where we were standing, we had a straight shot of the Capitol Building and could see pretty much everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longstreth was equally impressed with the President\u2019s speech, and said she felt moved when Obama addressed equal rights for everyone. \u201cThat was so nice to hear,\u201d she said. \u201cI just think it\u2019s so awesome we have a president who cares about everyone, no matter what their sexual preference is. It really shows how far society has come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the deafening roar of the crowd at times, Longstreth said it surprised her how quiet the crowd became when the president began speaking. \u201cI think everybody was just kind of taken up in the moment. Especially on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to hear our nation\u2019s first African-American president speaking \u2026 it was just so overwhelming to me and I actually got pretty emotional about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And like a true teenager, Longstreth was blown away by the day\u2019s performers, which included James Taylor, Beyonc\u00e9 and Kelly Clarkson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just such an experience for me, and it\u2019s something I can always say I was a part of,\u201d Longstreth said of her experience. \u201cIt really didn\u2019t matter what party you belonged to, it seemed everyone was just in the same mindset that this is a president we support and care about. It was so nice to see everyone becoming united and hoping the best for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longstreth hopes that future includes positive change in the country, and equal rights and opportunities for everyone. \u201cI support him, and I support his ideas,\u201d she said of President Obama. \u201cI really don\u2019t affiliate with any political party, but I think he needs everyone\u2019s support right now so we can get our country back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer Aurora Longstreth is over-the-top excited — and exhausted. The 2012 Van Wert High School graduate and freshman at the University of Toledo recently returned from a trip that she says overwhelmed her — in a good way. Longstreth, daughter of Doug and Marybeth Longstreth of Van Wert, recently arrived home from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 13:55:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}