SHAPLEIGH

When Donald J. Trump places his hand on the Bible around noon Friday and swears to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, millions will be watching.

Among them, on the west lawn of the Capitol, will be a group of friends and Trump supporters from York County — including Nancy Ganem-Bond of Shapleigh, Mike and Sheila Conway of Acton, Carol Thurston of Hollis Center and Brad Littlefield of Sanford. They don’t know which gate they’ll be at on the west lawn, but they’re hoping they’ll be fairly close to the action.

They’re excited.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Mike Conway.

“I’ve been over the moon about this,” said Ganem-Bond.

They’ll be among hundreds of thousands of people attending inaugural events as the 45th president of the United States takes office.

The five discussed their excitement about the new President and the inauguration at Ganem-Bond’s home Sunday afternoon as they made plans for the upcoming weekend.

None of them have attended previous inaugurations.

“We all worked really hard for the campaign,” said Ganem-Bond. As the owner of a small business, she worked nights and weekends on the campaign.

She and the Conways saw Trump in Farmington, New Hampshire, in January 2016, before he became the nominee. And Ganem-Bond met Trump back in 1987, when she was working for a bookstore chain, and he had just written “The Art of the Deal.”

“When he announced (his candidacy) I knew he’d win,” she said. “He’s a fix-it guy.”

Littlefield was an early Trump supporter, and volunteer coordinator in the First Congressional District until the Trump campaign set up offices in the district. He saw Trump in August, 2015 in Hampton, New Hampshire, and said felt certain the man would be the next president.

Mike Conway said he was initially for Ted Cruz, feeling the Texan was the most conservative of the candidates for the nomination. His wife Sheila was also initially a Cruz supporter. Trump emerged as the nominee, and they’re behind him and the Republican party, he said.

He said he and Sheila were at Moosehead Lake when they met a couple — one worked for the New York Department of Human Services, the other was a teacher. The couple brought up politics, said Conway.

“He said ‘I hope you’re supporting Trump,’” said Conway.

“People supporting Trump come form all walks of life,” said Littlefield.

Ganem-Bond was a supporter early on, and put a sign on the van she uses for her cleaning firm.

“People would come up to me and whisper, ‘I like your sign,’” she said. “The silent majority stands for Trump.”

Carol Thurston, who with Littlefield, attended the Maine Republican Convention earlier this year and the vote of Maine’s members of the electoral college a couple of weeks ago, said both events brought her to tears. She spoke of the process — “tedious and wonderful,” she said — as earmarks of an orderly, civil state.

“This is how our government functions,” she said.

About those middle of the night tweets?

Perhaps the president-elect could benefit from an app which delays a posting for five minutes, some of the group acknowledged, but they see benefits, too.

Mike Conway said both parties say the media is against them. By tweeting, Trump is taking the middleman out of the equation, he pointed out.

Ganem-Bond said she appreciates the direct contact Trump makes with the American people through his tweets.

“It’s huge to look at your phone and know its him,” said Ganem-Bond. “Him tweeting is us being connected to him.”

After the president takes the oath of office, and the bands in the parade — including one from Madawaska — have played their last patriotic tune, the five will attend the Great American Inaugural Ball in nearby Maryland. They’re not sure the new president will attend — it isn’t one of the three “official” balls — but they’re hoping he will put in an appearance.

The five are flying down Thursday morning, will stop at Sen. Susan Collins’ Office to pick up their inauguration tickets before making their way to their hotel two blocks from the White House. Some of the group will attend a reception Collins is hosting that evening, others plan on attending a concert at the Lincoln Memorial featuring Toby Keith, among others.

“We’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans for the inauguration of a new president,” said Mike Conway. “I think everybody is blessed by living in a country where there’s an exchange of power without a shot being fired.”

Journaltribune.com