In what could be the most expensive inaugural festivities in state history, Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is organizing a weeklong, $1 million extravaganza to ring in the first Republican administration in more than three decades.
While state funds will pay for the official swearing-in ceremony Jan. 15, the rest will be covered by private donations, Ehrlich said yesterday.
To that end, the governor-elect's team is setting up a not-for-profit company to which donors can contribute.
Ehrlich spokesman Paul E. Schurick said the same mechanism - a 501-c4 company - has been used to raise money for previous inaugural parties. No funds from campaign accounts will be used to pay inaugural bills, he added.
Ehrlich said he hopes the $1 million will come in the form of many modest donations, rather than in large chunks from big businesses.
"I'd like to have a lot of people contribute small amounts of money," he said, adding that he is "sensitive to the appearance" of soliciting big corporate donations to back the events.
"One thing that we are committed to avoid is for corporations to have the appearance that they have any undue influence," Schurick said.
He said the Ehrlich team would soon send letters asking people to donate at "several levels of support" that will be "relatively low." Schurick said they would seek donations at "levels lower than have been used for past inaugurals," but he did not specify what those amounts would be.
Ehrlich also said he wants to make sure the ticket price to the events stays low, so more people can attend. (The price of admittance to Gov. Parris N. Glendening's 1995 ball in Prince George's County was $125; another Glendening ball in Baltimore a few days earlier cost $75.)
Organizers are working out the details, but they have confirmed a series of events in the five or so days leading to inauguration day. Plans include a parade in Ehrlich's hometown of Arbutus in Baltimore County, and one in Largo in Prince George's, the hometown of Lt. Gov.-elect Michael S. Steele.
There will be a "prayer breakfast" for community leaders and a sort of mock inaugural celebration for children, to teach them about state government.
And an inaugural ball.
A couple of concerts are planned. Performers booked include The Spinners, a soul group of the early 1970s, which Ehrlich said he is "really jacked" about.
When someone joked that all the music over the inaugural weekend would be like a Dead show, Ehrlich replied, "Yeah, a Grateful Dead show, except with Republicans."
The events will mark the first GOP takeover celebration in Annapolis since Spiro T. Agnew was elected in 1966.
At Agnew's inauguration, state dignitaries wore morning coats and top hats.
Agnew's ball, attended by 5,000 people, was held in Baltimore's 5th Regiment Armory, where the stark interior was transformed with gold and white decor, 20 three-tiered crystal chandeliers, palm trees, plush red carpet and a false ceiling to improve sound quality. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played Viennese waltzes and selections from My Fair Lady.
To underscore the historical significance of Ehrlich's win (not only did he beat a Democrat, but a Kennedy), the governor-elect has invited Republican friends and colleagues from Capitol Hill. Rep. George P. Radanovich of California plans to attend, as does former Rep. David M. McIntosh of Indiana.
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Whip Tom DeLay have said they would like to attend, but are unsure if their schedules will allow it.
Sally Martin, who arranged the first inaugural party for Gov. Harry R. Hughes in 1979 and several of William Donald Schaefer's mayoral inaugurals, said that making sure everyone gets invited can be the toughest part of throwing such a shindig.
"The biggest part is pulling together a list," she said. "Of course, the Republicans haven't been in for a while, so they don't have the advantage of using all the, well, Democratic lists. They'll want to be careful not to forget anybody."
Hughes' first inaugural party was held at the Naval Academy.
"It wasn't that complicated," Martin said. "There was music and food," but nothing as elaborate as what Ehrlich plans.
At his second inaugural, Hughes and his wife, Pat, jitterbugged at the Baltimore Convention Center with about 2,000 guests. Proceeds from the $125 tickets were designated to pay off Hughes' $86,000 campaign debt.
In 1987, Schaefer cut out the boogying, opting for a simple, brief affair that included a few patriotic songs and a roughly 10-minute speech in the inaugural for his first term as governor.
His next inaugural was a downright glum affair. The weather was rainy, and few people showed. The gulf war meant that Schaefer and Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg wore bulletproof vests in case of a terrorist attack.
At the time, Schaefer also faced what was considered a formidable state budget shortfall - $423 million. His inaugural that year cost $30,000.
After 12 years without an inaugural ball, Glendening revived the celebration in 1995 with a party at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, where 3,000 Marylanders showed up in black-tie finery.
"It seemed the natural order of things," he said at the time.
Sun staff writers Alec MacGillis and Johnathon E. Briggs contributed to this article.