By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
Enjoying the fruits of their labor, members of a Princeton grassroots campaign group were both ecstatic and tearful Tuesday as they watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama during a party at the Triumph Brewery.
But the Princeton Area Women for Obama will not disband now that the campaign is over. Inspired by their success, they are turning their attention to their attention to local charities.
Their inauguration party on Tuesday will benefit the food bank of the Crisis Ministry. About 60 people paid $20 each to dine in a private section of the restaurant, watching the live coverage of the event on a big screen TV.
The 14-member group formed last summer to support Barack Obama in Democratic primary battle with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, said co-founder Carol Calamoneri of Princeton. They held a fundraiser for the campaign, registered voters and drove people to the polls.
Watching their dream come true as Mr. Obama completed his Inaugural Address, they stood, cheered wildly, clinked glasses, high-fived, hugged and wiped tears from their eyes.
Marjorie Biddle, of Lawrenceville, another cofounder of the group, was unable to speak for several seconds after the stirring address.
”This is so big and it’s for the world, not just us,” she said, in tears.
Ms. Calamoneri said, “I thought I’d be overwhelmed, but I’m calm. It’s the beginning of a new world.”
Ms. Biddle, who said the last time she was politically active was during the Vietnam War, said Mr. Obama was “the match we needed.”
”I grew up in the Deep South, so this is the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Though she praised Mr. Obama’s former rival, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, she said he has inspired people in a way she would not have.
”I remember (President John F.) Kennedy and that sense of pride and community we haven’t had since then,” she said.
Group member Anne Sweeney said that during the primaries, it was assumed that all women would support Ms. Clinton, “especially if you were a lady of a certain age, as I happen to be.”
”We wanted to show that Obama had across-the-board support,” she said. “It wasn’t a gender issue.”
During emotional moments of the inauguration, Ms. Biddle put her hand on her 22-year-old daughter’s back as she sat beside her looking on.
”I was telling my daughter that this has changed her life,” she said afterwards.
The group plans to continue its grassroots movement, she said, by joining the Mercer County for Obama group and supporting local charities. Last weekend, they held a food drive at Wegmans in West Windsor, she said.
In a video message released this weekend, the president called on his supporters to continue the grassroots movement that marked his campaign.
Among the most emotional at the party was Milly Brown, 78, of East Windsor. A black woman, she said she had worked in the civil rights movement and had never thought she would see an African-American man become president.
”He’s a gift from God,” she said. But, she cautioned, he is just a man and will make mistakes.
She praised how easy it was to be a part of his grassroots effort. She worked with the campaign in Princeton as well as in her hometown, she said, canvassing and and registering voters.
”I worked hard with this campaign for two years… and I loved every minute of it,” she said.
The group wasn’t only celebrating the inauguration of an incoming president, but the departure of the former one. One of the wildest cheers from the group came when outgoing President George W. Bush was shown getting into a helicopter with the former First Lady at the East front of the Capital.

