Arkansans’ inauguration bash draws 1,200

— The lobbying, budget battles and filibusters can wait. Sunday night on the eve of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, hundreds of Arkansans and their friends put politics on hold, if only momentarily, to throw a party.


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About 1,200 people in tuxedos and sequined dresses crammed into the National Press Club at the National Press Building to celebrate the inauguration at the Arkansas State Society Inaugural Ball. This year there were only two official balls, but the Arkansas shindig was one of dozens of black-tie events held to celebrate Obama’s swearing-in.

Throughout the evening, attendees stressed that they were Republicans or Democrats second, and Arkansans first.

“It’s great to be celebrating tonight with my constituents, regardless of their party,” said Rep. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle.

Gary and Leanna Godley, a Little Rock couple who own Goddess Products, an office supply company, bought plane tickets to Washington the day after Election Day.

Leanna Godley said her father, who died before Obama was elected in 2008, would have never thought a black man could be elected president in her lifetime. She said the fact that Obama was elected not once, but twice, was history. The fact that the Little Rock Central High School band was marching in the inaugural parade “speaks for itself” regarding how the country has changed since nine students integrated the school in 1957, she said.

Though Godley said the country has come a long way in mending the wounds of racial discrimination, there is still work to be done.

“We still have issues,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, but true.”

David Prince, a Little Rock lawyer, and his wife, Mary, who works at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, edged close to the stage as the co-chairman of the ball,former Little Rock television host Glenn Mahone, led the group in calling the Hogs.

Like the Godleys, the Princes bought plane tickets to Washington the day after the election.

David Prince attended the 2009 inauguration, but Mary Prince stayed in Arkansas. She said she planned to head out to the mall “bright and early.”

David Prince said the mood this year is more serious and less idealistic than at Obama’s first inauguration.

“There’s still a lot of excitement, but the crowds are not as big,” he said. “It’s a little more low-key and more subdued.”

That didn’t stop the party goers from jamming the dance floor and strutting their stuff.

The Great Expectations Band pumped out Rolling Stones and Earth, Wind and Fire as the dancers lined up and moved as a synchronized unit.

“This is a blast,” said Terri Williams Womack. She bobbed to the music as her husband, Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, stood nearby.

The Arkansas State Society Ball isn’t the only Arkansas party in Washington planned around the inauguration festivities. Tonight, the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will hold a King/Obama Celebration Ball at one of the hotels the group booked for its trip to Washington. More than 300 people traveled with the group to Washington.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/21/2013

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