• Brandon Leonard •
• Originally published January 20, 2009 at 11:44 p.m., updated January 20, 2009 at 11:44 p.m.

Anais Beaumont can remember when she was punished for speaking Spanish in school as a child.

The foreign language and culture teacher for Outreach Academy Charter School has seen how culture has changed since then, a milestone being the election of President Barack Obama.

"We're asking miracles of him," Beaumont, a Victoria native, said. "If he does just one, we'll be ahead, and this country can be No. 1 again."

Beaumont joined about 200 area residents at the African American Chamber of Commerce's first Inaugural Ball, held at the Victoria Community Center from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Tuesday. The ball included decorations of red, white and blue in everything from the balloons to the table settings.

The program included broadcasting CNN's all-day inauguration coverage on a large, projection screen, singing by the Nazareth Academy choir, catered food and even some dancing.

"It's a good turn out," Jim Wyatt said. "I'd love for it to be more."

Smiles and laughter filled the room as friends shook hands and talked.

The chamber decided to do a ball instead of a more informal gathering to imitate how Tuesday evening was being celebrated at the nation's capital.

"We wanted to establish the same atmosphere they were having in D.C. here in Victoria," Wyatt said.

Josie Franklin, an EKG technician from Victoria, never thought she would live to see a black president.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "To see him come from where he was, you just didn't expect it," Franklin said of Obama.

Lark Pessik, choir director for Nazareth Academy, also remembered a time during the 1950s when there was racial segregation in Indiana, where she grew up.

"That's something I never understood. I never understood the difference," Pessik said. "Today was outstanding. To come this far in my lifetime, it's awesome."

Beaumont thought Obama had much to accomplish while in office. The decline of the family, a poor educational system and the economy are all things that need his attention now, she said.

And she hoped Obama's story would inspire today's young people to be hard-working, honest, self-educated citizens.

"He worked hard. He did what he was supposed to do," Beaumont said. "The way to do it is through work and education."

• Print
• •
• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

    Share on FaceBook

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• •
• Post a Comment
• •
• Favorite
• •
• Report error
  • Thank you for your submission.
    Error report or correction

    Contact name (optional) Contact phone/e-mail (optional)  

    
  • Close
• •