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Published on Monday, January 17, 2005
in the Tampa Tribune
Spending 12 hour days in frigid temperatures, watching out for 100,000 strangers may not sound like a privilege, but for a group of Florida Highway Patrol troopers, it's the chance of a lifetime.
In all, 21 members of the FHP were chosen to be part of the security detail for the 55th Presidential Inaugural Ceremony on Thursday in Washington. Of those, six troopers are assigned to the Tampa Bay area-based Troop C, which patrols Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Pinellas and Sumter counties.
Trooper Leslie Weber, a 10-year veteran assigned to Hernando and Sumter counties, could barely contain her excitement when she got the call she had been selected.
The group will leave Tallahassee today and head to the nation's capital to begin their assignments, expected to last about four days.
In addition to Weber, troopers participating from the Tampa Bay area are Sgt. Dennis Hobbs, assigned to Pinellas County; Trooper Jerry Perdue, assigned to Hernando; Trooper Larry Kraus, assigned to Land O' Lakes; Trooper Jim Goethe, assigned to Tampa and Trooper Will Jarvis, assigned to Pinellas Park.