Mainers enjoy ceremonial scene in D.C.

WASHINGTON – In a room full of Mainers eating breakfast Thursday with Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, the most visibly exuberant person was not the 9-year-old boy who had his picture taken with Collins or the college student who took advantage of the breakfast to introduce himself to the senator in whose office he hopes to intern next year.

It was Sgt. Michael Edes, 46, president of the Maine State Troopers Association, who beamed with excitement as he talked about the breakfast and about his plans to attend President Bush’s swearing-in ceremony, the parade and an inaugural ball.

“It’s really something,” the Cumberland resident said of the inauguration events. “It’s nice to be involved in the process. This is history.”

The events were even more special for Edes because he was able to share them with his friend Jack Carrier of Jackman.

Carrier, who describes himself as a “pure Republican,” spoke only French when he moved from Canada to Maine 40 years ago. Now, as the head of E.J. Carrier Inc., he owns 80,000 acres, operates five mills and is one of the largest logging contractors in the state, he said.

“I do like the American way,” Carrier said with a smile.

Carrier’s story symbolizes America, Edes said. “That, to me, is what makes this country good,” he said.

Harry Rideout, 62, of Hermon was attending his third inauguration and had his picture taken with Collins and Snowe.

“The last time I had my picture taken with two senators, they were both Democrats,” Rideout said, recalling the more than 25-year-old souvenir he has of himself posing with then U.S. Sens. Edmund Muskie and William Hathaway.

Rideout was a Democrat in the mid-’70s when he served with Snowe in the Legislature. He represented Mapleton and Presque Isle at the time, switching parties in 1986 after moving to Hermon and realizing that his philosophy better fit the Republican mold.

After serving as an honor guard for John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 and watching Ronald Reagan’s inauguration from the crowd in 1981, Rideout and his wife, Sharon, 59, traveled to Washington this year to see the inauguration of a president for whom they campaigned in the Bangor area.

“Of all the presidents I’ve known, George W. is my favorite,” he said. “He’s been such a steadfast president, even more than Reagan. He doesn’t waver.”

A group of seven students from Van Buren High School spent most of Wednesday sitting in airport terminals and on runways as their flights to Washington were delayed and diverted because of weather.

Although they missed out on going to several museums and monuments on Wednesday, the students said they were excited about Thursday’s events.

“I’m looking forward to meeting people and seeing the historic sights that you hear so much about,” said sophomore Lita Dionne, 16.

As Snowe spoke with nine members of the Maine College Republicans who attended the breakfast, she reflected on 1969, the year she was a senior at the University of Maine and saw her first inauguration.

Snowe said it was important to keep the tradition of the inauguration festivities and to involve the American people in it. The breakfast sought to bring everyone from Maine together and thank them for traveling to Washington to celebrate the day, she said.

The inauguration is “an important demonstration to the world about free elections,” Snowe said, and is an example to the Iraqi people as they approach their impending elections.