By DAVID VITRANO
News Editor

LAPLACE—About 45 young women from St. John and St. James parishes are about to go from catching Obama fever on Election Day to hopefully catching a glimpse of the man in person on inauguration day.

The girls, members of a group called Girls in Action, spent part of Nov. 4 greeting members of the community, encouraging them to vote and bringing refreshments to those manning the polling stations. It was then Krischelle Thomas, president of the local Girls in Action group, was struck with an idea.

“If Mr. Obama wins, we should go to the inauguration,” she thought.

In the months since then, the members have spent their efforts gathering support from sponsors and raising money on their own through various fundraisers to make that vision a reality.

Though the process was not easy and the journey to the nation’s capital will be long, Thomas felt it important to endure the hardships for the girls “so they can see that anything is possible.”

This morning, the group, along with some parents and chaperones, among them West St. John Elementary School Principal Gail Creecy, will gather amidst a crowd of well-wishers at St. John the Baptist Church in Edgard. They will then board their vessel at 1 p.m. and head off into the great unknown.

And for many in the group, it is truly the unknown. Many of the girls have never seen Washington, D.C., and are just as excited to see the fabled monuments as witness the historic inauguration.

While in D.C., the group, which also includes a few children who are not members of Girls in Action (a few boys are going, too), will visit the famous sites of the National Mall. They will also get the chance to see the Historic Underground Railroad Sites in Baltimore, tour area churches and witness Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades in the nation’s capital.

Then, of course, there is the main attraction itself. While most in the group will have to content themselves watching the festivities from the Mall, at least five of those making the trip have tickets to the inauguration.

Regardless of the vantage point, the experience is likely to be an experience few will ever forget.