Jan 18, 2025
Officials inspect the construction of a stand in the Rotunda, where President-elect Donald Trump is due to take the oath of office on Monday, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
PARKERSBURG — Multiple area residents plan to attend President Donald Trump’s second inauguration Monday in Washington, D.C.
Trump announced Friday he would take the oath of office inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the intense cold weather forecast for the day.
John Coe, a Parkersburg resident and teacher at Parkersburg Catholic High School, said his ticket to attend the event arrived Wednesday through the staff of the office of U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va.
“They brought it to my workplace and presented it to me, which was kind of impressive,” said Coe, who added that his 38-year tenure as a member of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee helped get him selected.
When word came that many of the events would be moved inside — with alternate plans being formulated for the approximately 250,000 ticketed guests to be able to watch the proceedings — Coe said he tried to cancel his hotel reservation but would not have been able to get his money refunded.
Karla Ward, left, and Gary Ward, right, smile at each other as they hold the Washington County Distinguished Service Award at the 2024 Washington County Veterans Hall of Fame induction ceremony last November. (File Photo)
Coe said he will drive up, use the room, watch the inaugural events on their TV and then go sightseeing at places like the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
“I can’t get mad over things I can’t control,” Coe said, adding he is looking forward to hearing Trump speak.
“I want to hear a message of unity for our country, and I want to hear a message about improving our economy, especially here in Appalachia and in West Virginia,” he said. “I want to hear some talk about what he is going to do about inflation, all of the things he ran on.”
Coe also wants to hear what the president is planning to do about the “immigration crisis.”
Coe has written books on politics and more.
“I predicted Trump’s win in one of my books I published two years ago about the ‘woke’ movement,” he said. “I predicted how it would eventually backfire and people would get tired of it, and they would come out and vote for Donald Trump for that reason.”
West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Matt Herridge of Williamstown was traveling to Washington on Wednesday to be able to attend the Republican National Committee meeting that evening as well as other GOP events and more this weekend before the inauguration on Monday.
“I am very excited,” he said. “It is going to be a busy week and a busy weekend, but certainly celebratory.”
Herridge said he is looking forward to hearing Trump’s inaugural speech and “his overall vision for the next four years.”
He credited Trump’s appeal in speaking to working class individuals, billionaires and people of different races and creeds.
“I would love to hear more about how he sees the party’s realignment in becoming that much broader force,” he said.
Herridge said he will be speaking to the leadership of the southern regional states of the Republican National Committee about West Virginia and bragging a little bit about what the party accomplished in 2024, electing a Republican to every federal and every Board of Public Works seat. The party will hold 91 out of 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 32 out of 34 seats in the state Senate.
West Virginia was the only state to bring Trump over 70% of the vote in every single county, Herridge said.
People should be looking toward Monday’s inauguration with “excitement and optimism,” he said.
“I think this will be a different four-year term than President Trump’s initial term,” Herridge said. “He’s learned a lot. I think he will be much more efficient and effective.
“I think he will move much more faster in making the changes he has talked about.’”
Lower Salem residents Gary and Karla Ward received tickets to the inauguration through the office of Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio. The couple advocates for military causes following the death of their son, Army Spc. Christian Ward, in a training accident in 2019.
Attending any presidential inauguration would be an honor, Gary Ward said, but they feel a special connection to Trump.
“We got a personal letter from President Trump about our son’s death,” he said.
Although the inaugural activities may change somewhat because of the move indoors, the Wards still plan to go to Washington, participate in what they can and place flowers on their son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery.
Ward thanked Rulli’s office for getting them tickets and said they look forward to working with him on efforts for the foundation they started in their son’s memory.
The Wards invited their friends, Washington County Commissioner James Booth and his wife Heather, to go with them.
“Of course we said yes,” James Booth said. “It’s just exciting to go to. This isn’t an everyday event that happens.”
Booth said he is looking forward to seeing what Trump and other leaders do after winning the electoral and popular vote and majorities in both houses of Congress. What happens in Washington “all filters down to the common taxpayer, the small business owner, which is what I am,” he said.
Government should be providing for basic needs like infrastructure and security, not “setting social policies,” he said.
City Editor Evan Bevins contributed to this story.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com
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