Thousands throng Fenty fete

Thousands of D.C. residents, city officials and dignitaries last night filled the Washington Convention Center for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s inaugural ball, a super-sized event that ushered in the city’s youngest mayor.

Mr. Fenty’s wife, Michelle, organized the event and said she wanted it to “capture the diversity of the city as seen through Adrian’s eyes.”

“I wanted people to meet who wouldn’t otherwise mingle,” said Mrs. Fenty, dressed in a strapless, champagne-gold-colored gown by New York designer B. Michael. “We wanted people to say afterwards that they learned something about the city.”

Mrs. Fenty had “ward rooms” created for the venue that reflected the culture of each of the city’s eight wards.

The Ward 7 exhibit, for example, featured local artists displaying their paintings. The Ward 8 area included pictures of Marion Barry, a former D.C. mayor, and other council members who have represented that jurisdiction.

The ball began at 7 p.m. with outside temperatures still in the low 60s and Metropolitan Police Department officers lining the streets around the venue on Mount Vernon Place Northwest.

About 15,000 free tickets were issued in the weeks before the event.

Most of the guests were dressed in black tie or gowns and were served from 50 bars and 60 buffet tables filled with desserts and such delectables as chicken, pasta and shrimp donated by local restaurants. Free sodas and other drinks were available, but guests had to pay for alcoholic beverages.

Tables adorned with flower arrangements filled up soon after the doors opened as bands played jazz and guests engaged in cocktail chatter only loud enough to hear over the music.

Mr. Fenty, clad in a black tuxedo, said shortly before 8 p.m. that he already was pleased with the turnout.

“The citizens of the District of Columbia have shown a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of that is due to my predecessor [former Mayor Anthony A. Williams] having worked so hard for eight years,” said Mr. Fenty, inside the gleaming new convention center in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, one of the cornerstones of Mr. Williams’ economic revitalization of the city.

The ball was originally scheduled for Jan. 2, but was postponed after President Bush declared the date a national day of mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford.

Mr. Fenty’s public swearing-in ceremony was delayed until Jan. 3. At 36, he became the District’s fifth and youngest elected mayor.

Mr. Fenty, a Democrat, has wasted little time making changes since the swearing-in ceremony.

On Thursday, he presented his plan to assume authority over the District’s public school system, to the dismay of Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb, who vowed to resign if the plan goes into effect.

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