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Emmett Beliveau

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Barack Obama, joined by wife Michelle, takes the presidential oath of office Tuesday. On Isle au Haut in Maine, eight schoolchildren drank sparkling cider as they watched the inaugural.

enlarge Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post

Crowds fill the Mall before President Obama’s inauguration Tuesday. The number of attendees made it so hard to reach the Capitol area that Krista Nordgren, who works for a Portland marketing and public relations firm, watched the ceremony from her hotel.

Colby College graduate Emmett Beliveau will serve as director of advance for President Barack Obama, according to change.gov, Obama's Web site during the transition.

Beliveau, son of Augusta attorney Severin Beliveau and Cynthia Beliveau, most recently worked as executive director and CEO of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Before that, he was director of advance for the Obama campaign, where he "oversaw hundreds of major events," according to the Web site.

Beliveau, 32, is an attorney who lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, D.C. He also worked on the presidential campaigns of Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry.

In a press release posted on the Web site Friday, Obama announced four new staffers, including Beliveau. The announcement also named Danielle Crutchfield as director of scheduling for the president; Marvin Nicholson as trip director for the president; and Patrick Dillon as deputy director of political affairs.

"Danielle, Marvin and Emmett played key roles on my campaign team and I will rely on their talent and expertise in the White House," Obama said in a statement.

CIDER TOASTS, PRESIDENTIAL BUFFET

Mainers from all walks of life paused Tuesday to watch and listen as Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation's 44th president.

Schools let students watch Obama take the oath of office live on television. Many businesses also let workers watch the historic inauguration. Large-screen TVs carried the event in the State House in Augusta.

At schools from elementary level to universities, students gathered in auditoriums, cafeterias and classrooms to watch America's first black president take office. On Isle au Haut in Penobscot Bay, the eight children who attend the island town's one-room schoolhouse trekked to a nearby home to watch the events on TV.

Teacher Paula Greatorex said the children, who are in grades 1 though 8, were attentive and excited as the new president was sworn in.

"We had sparkling cider, and we toasted Barack Obama," she said.

One of the more unusual events was at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle, where more than 200 people showed up for an inaugural-watching party with a buffet featuring the favorite foods of the presidents.

The foods included Lyndon Johnson's Texas chili, John F. Kennedy's New England chowder and Bill Clinton's chicken enchiladas -- along with pasta dishes in honor of Obama, who has a liking for Italian food.

"We knew it would be well-attended, but we got more people than we anticipated," said spokeswoman Karen Gonya. "The sentiment people felt was that it was a historic event, whether they voted for him or not."

NO GUARANTEE OF ADMISSION

The historic occasion drew so many people that some Mainers got turned away along with thousands of others, even though they had waited hours in line Monday to get tickets from the state's congressional delegation.

Krista Nordgren, who works for a Portland marketing and public relations firm, said that as she neared the Capitol area early Tuesday, she was in a mass of people unable to move, with no sign of security to bring order to the crowd.

She said she spotted Mariah Carey and Jesse Jackson similarly thwarted.

"For all its history, it's just been a day that's testing everyone's stamina," she said. "It was just complete anarchy."

Nordgren said she saw a man who was bleeding being carried from the area in a makeshift stretcher.

Nordgren eventually escaped the crowds and returned to the safety of the Renaissance Hotel, where she watched the inauguration on a large screen in the auditorium.

STANDING ROOM ONLY

It was mostly a patient crowd out on the National Mall in the hours leading up to President Barack Obama's inauguration.

But as the big moment approached, one request from the podium was a little hard to take.

"Ladies and gentlemen,...