Roanoke County Clerk of Circuit Court witnesses inaugural first hand

Steven McGraw regrets watching some big moments in history from home, so this was one wanted to see first hand.

“I’ve told people, I missed Woodstock in 1969 when I was 18 years old, and I was not going to miss this,” McGraw said.

He’s the Roanoke County Clerk of Circuit Court, but Tuesday he took the day off to watch Barack Obama become president along with three million other people. 

“We started out at three o’clock in the morning,” he said.

After six hours of travel, security and human traffic jams, McGraw and his group were in place.  Their tickets were about 200 yards from the stage.

“We saw what we think was Barack Obama from where we were.“

One thing you can’t get from the pictures is the feeling McGraw describes as inspiring.

“More than any kind of negative feelings, it was just a buoyancy, a positive feeling about it all, and a lot of fun.”

It was a big moment this time he got to witness in-person.  With programs, tickets stubs and lots of new scrapbooking material, it’s a part of history McGraw will not soon forget.