County family's company gears up for Inauguration

He's been called the "President's Prop Man."

Earl C. Hargrove Jr., co-founder of a company that has planned the official events for inaugural celebrations since President Harry S Truman, is counting down the days until Jan. 20, when President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn into office.

On that day, hundreds of Hargrove Inc. workers will coordinate 10 inaugural balls, a prayer breakfast, three candlelight dinners, the official parade and audio-video services for the events.

The company's 135,000-square-foot, Lanham-based warehouse was bustling with activity last week.

Around one corner, a skilled artisan carefully applied paint to a more than 15-foot-tall plastic horse that will draw a carriage on a United Services Organization float. Down another aisle, a group of event planners were inspecting a rough production of one of the ball's stages. And soon a craftsman would be perched on a ladder refurbishing a giant, upright American flag that was assembled on a flatbed and fabricated with 25,000 yards of hand-tufted red, white and blue satin.

Though Mr. Hargrove has been involved as a general contractor for inauguration ceremonies since 1949, at 80 years old, this will be the first inauguration for which he will take on a lesser, off-in-the-wings role at the events. Last spring he sold the company to his daughter, Carla, and his son-in-law, Tim McGill. Though the Annapolis couple will now run the show, Mr. Hargrove will remain hands-on with designing parade floats, his original passion.

Just four years ago, Mr. Hargrove actually drove the Texas-themed float for incumbent President George W. Bush, complete with a giant cowboy boot and hat.

But he won't be in the driver's seat this year, said Marvin Bond, a spokesman for Hargrove Inc.

"He moves a little slower than he used to," Mr. Bond said.

Mr. Hargrove admits that he's running low on steam, but he still has the fire in his belly for a big production this year.

"Well, at my age, it's probably, could well be, the last one that I do where I'm really involved," Mr. Hargrove said Wednesday, in his office plastered with inaugural memorabilia. By his desk, he sat in a navy-blue, velvet upholstered chair that President Reagan sat in during one of his inaugural parades. On a wall behind Mr. Hargrove hung a sign that stated: "Presidential No Parking Midnight January 19 to Midnight January 20, 1969."

A lot of the finer details of themes and designs for Mr. Obama's ceremonies are under wraps, but Mr. McGill hinted there would be an emphasis on Illinois and a nod to President Lincoln, as well as a spotlight on Hawaii because of Mr. Obama's roots in both states.

Mr. McGill, who now sits in the director's chair for Hargrove's operations, admits the newfound role comes with both prestige and pressure.

"We want to carry the legacy of (my wife's) family forward and keep up the reputation," he said.

In 1949, Mr. Hargrove and his father, Earl Hargrove Sr., were only involved in the parade portion of the inauguration, he said, and designed "eight or nine" floats for President Truman, which cost them about $5,000 to create. But the scale of the event has grown so much that the sage "Prop Man" wouldn't even venture a guess as to how much Hargrove's total expenses are for the 2009 production. "Millions," he said.

Things have changed a lot over the years, as inaugurations have grown more lavish. On Jan. 7, 1953, The Capital printed an article about the upcoming ceremonies for President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower. For the first time, a president would have not one, but two official inaugural balls, according to the report. His parade also featured two live elephants that garnered much attention.

"President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower is going to get the 'simple and dignified' inaugural which he ordered," the article stated. "It's going to be so simple that it will be merely stupendous and super-colossal ... If the trend toward dignity and simplicity continues, future inaugurals will have to be held at the atomic proving grounds in Nevada."

According to the article, the entire inaugural committee budget rounded out to $800,000, and at that time, a ticket to one of the balls would cost an attendee $12.

In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, The Capital reported that most inaugural ball tickets would sell for $100 each. That was the first year Hargrove Inc. oversaw the official inaugural ball events.

One can only wonder what superlative those reporters would use to describe the ball tickets being sold on eBay today for "Buy-It-Now" prices of more than $2,000 a pop.

Mr. Hargrove himself finds the changing times astonishing and said he often wonders about what his father, who died at the age of 65, would think of the business as it exists now.

"He'd probably give me a good, swift kick," he chuckled.

But with the passing of the torch to a third generation in the Hargrove family, he said he's proud of his accomplishments and feels confident the business is in good hands.

"Preparations for every inaugural take place in a very short time frame, but the event takes place on the world stage," Mr. Hargrove said. "That's why (the company's) experience in producing inaugural events over nearly 60 years is so important."