The next president of the United States will hear directly from the young people of Hood River County.
    Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students at Wy’east Middle School will write letters to be presented to Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day.

This gives students, and the rest of the community, a direct connection to what is certainly an historic moment.

In today’s issue, we start a two-part profile of people who will have a chance to witness the Inauguration on Jan. 20, starting with Evelyn and Dell Charity of Hood River. As African-Americans the Charitys are feeling a particular set of emotions knowing they will be present when Obama takes the oath of office — the first African-American to reach the world’s most powerful position.

On Jan. 17 we will profile Susan Arechaga, a history teacher at Wy’east, who through a family connection will be present at a former Congress members’ luncheon to be attended by President Obama.

The Charitys and Arechaga are among six Hood River County residents we know of who are attending the Inaugural. Also attending are Carolyn Welty-Fick and her daughter, Caitlyn, a Hood River Middle School sixth-grader; Sheila Shearer, who worked on Obama’s campaign; and Hood River Valley High School junior Alex Marchesi. (If you are going or know of someone from the community who is attending, you may inform reporter RaeLynn Ricarte at:

rricarte@hoodrivernews.com)

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The chance to stand among the expected two million people in the nation’s capital on Jan. 20 is something we can all celebrate. Those who are going report that their friends and acquaintances get pretty excited on their behalf.

And for good reason. People may disagree about Obama’s policies and plans and on his qualifications, but it is clear that Obama is earnest in his intention to give America a fresh start.

Obama takes office at one of the most difficult times in recent memory, but there prevails a definite sense of hope upon the occasion of his taking command.

So to be in Washington at this moment in history, and knowing that someone we know, or know of, will be there, can give many among us a vicarious sense of being part of it, too.

Arechaga is taking that one step further, helping her students to a palpable link to the event. Arechaga got together with her language arts counterparts at Wy’east and asked students to write letters to President Obama. In those letters, students will express their hopes and their concerns about the future of their country.

Arechaga hopes to hand-deliver the letters to Obama. The students’ expressions bring all of us a little closer to the highest level of our government. We presume that Obama will get the chance to actually read the letters. No illusions here; the honor may fall to an aide. But this would take nothing away from what the students have done.

Their letters are an example of how they — and through them, the rest of us — are a part of the process in a time of change.