<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\tThe three-hour event for Dunleavy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, sworn in Dec. 5, was oddly hailed by organizers as “the first-in-state” inaugural celebration, which had reporters at a press briefing with the lieutenant governor Tuesday wondering if some out-of-state soirée escaped their notice. No, her staff assured the scribes, it just referred to the first of multiple such events being hosted by the Alaska Inaugural Committee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The invitation invited attire “from sequins and tuxes to Carhartts and Xtratufs,” although the formal options dominated the room to the mildly expressed chagrin of one person wearing worker duds.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
<\/a>Supporters of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, along with state lawmakers in both political parties, line up at the buffet at the inaugural celebration for the governor on Friday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
About 265 people attended the gathering where tickets were $100 each, making it smaller and swankier than the free legislative welcoming reception hosted by city leaders in the same space three days earlier.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The inaugural celebration featured a less lavish buffet than the community event in one corner of the room (with pulled pork\/chicken sliders being swapped in for some of the earlier Mexican munchies), but with alcohol absent from Tuesday’s event available at a no-host bar at the opposite corner. Another addition was live jazz by the Southeast Swingers, fronted by Juneau singer Taylor Vidic, along with enough open space for a dance floor.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t