Toledoan Michael Huggins has organized bus trips to both of President Barack Obama’s inaugurations as well as to the October 2011 dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument on the National Mall.

For his fourth trip, Huggins is switching his focus from Washington, D.C., to Cincinnati and organizing a trip to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The trip is set for April 13. Cost is $40 for adults or $30 for children age 13 and younger.

“After going to Washington, D.C., folks were asking me about doing another bus trip,” Huggins said. “I thought I’d take some folks and young people to learn more about history, slavery, Rosa Parks and so forth. All that history.”

Permanent exhibitions at the museum include Invisible: Slavery Today, Brothers of the Borderland, The Slave Pen, ESCAPE!, From Slavery to Freedom and The Struggle Continues.

The charter bus will leave from the Home Depot parking lot at 7 a.m. April 13 and return that night at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available at St. Stephens AME Church, 812 City Park Ave., Jack’s Men’s Wear, 3414 Dorr St., Power 109.9 FM, 12 E. Bancroft Plaza, or by contacting Huggins at (419) 932-5460.

For more information, visit www.freedomcenter.org.

Tags: Michael Huggins, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Underground Railroad

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2013 at 5:03 am and is filed under Community, History.
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By Stephanie Stelk, Toledo Free Press Staff Writer

On the evening of Jan. 20, a bus filled with 55 excited Toledoans exited the Home Depot parking lot on Secor Road, en route to President Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington D.C.

Toledo resident Michael Huggins organized the trip. For him, it was the second time he would make the journey in support of Obama. He also organized a bus trip from Toledo to Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.

For Huggins, the inspiration behind both trips was to uplift himself as a person as well as represent the city of Toledo in Washington D.C.

“It was something to represent the city of Toledo on the highest level,” Huggins said. “And to be able to have the pleasure of taking a group of Toledoans down as well and have them a part of the history down there.”

All but two of the riders — Huggins and another Toledo resident who attended the 2009 inauguration but not as part of the Toledo bus trip — were attending an inauguration for the first time.

The bus was filled with excitement and a sense of community, Huggins said, and once they arrived in Washington, D.C., the atmosphere got even better.

“The anticipation of seeing the president come out on the jumbo screen monitors was real uplifting,” Huggins said. “Everybody holding American flags, everybody screaming; it was real uplifting.”

One of the 55 people on the inauguration bus trip was Pastor Thomas Fant of St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church in Toledo.

Fant, who attended Obama’s first inauguration with his oldest son, said he wanted to gain a new outlook on the event.

“This particular time, I felt it was important for me to experience the bus, the bus ride itself and to interface with others going down there and get that perspective as well,” Fant said.

Supporting the first African-American president was also motivation for both of his inaugural trips.

“I was a part of the Civil Rights Movement and to be a part of the first election of a black president was very important to me,” Fant said. “And the second term for him was even more important because the status quo did not want him to have a second term.”

Even though the trip was tiring, the excitement that began the trip carried through until the very end, Fant said.

“After experiencing the inauguration, we were even more upbeat and excited, and very proud that we were there,” Fant said.

Both Huggins and Fant see themselves heading back to Washington, D.C., in 2016 for the next presidential inauguration.

“They all said they want to go back with me in 2016,” Huggins said.

Tags: Barack Obama, inauguration, Michael Huggins

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Community, Politics.
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A Toledo man is organizing a bus trip to President Barack Obama’s January inauguration in Washington, D.C.

“This is my third trip going down to D.C.,” said Huggins, a laid-off North Toledo steel worker. “I just want to get word out to the individuals who maybe don’t have transportation who want to be part of that history and ride down to Washington with me and represent the city of Toledo.”

Huggins also organized bus trips to the capital for Obama’s first  inauguration in January 2009 and for the Martin Luther King Jr. monument dedication ceremony in October 2011.

Fifty-four people went on the trip to the 2009 inauguration and 35 people attended the MLK Jr. monument dedication.

Huggins, who was also laid off during the 2009 inauguration, said he’s been getting a lot of interest in the trip so he reserved four charter buses.

The buses will leave Toledo from Home Depot, 3200 Secor Road, at 9 p.m. Jan. 20 and arrive in Washington, D.C., at 7 a.m. Jan. 21. After the inauguration ceremony, people will be able to sightsee until the buses leave at 5 p.m. Jan. 21.

Two of the buses will be “turnaround buses,” scheduled to be back in Toledo early morning Jan. 22, and two have the option of stopping overnight at a Motel 6, returning later in the day Jan. 22. The reserved motels are in Washington, D.C., and Springfield, Va.

Cost for the “turnaround” bus is $135 per person and cost for the bus that stops is $385.

Those who want to stay overnight need to purchase tickets by Dec. 18. Tickets for the “turnaround” buses will be accepted until the second week in January, Huggins said.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.washingtonbustrip.com or by calling Huggins at (419) 932-5460.

“I’m just trying to do something positive for the city of Toledo and represent the city of Toledo for a third time,” Huggins said.

Tags: Barack Obama, inauguration, Michael Huggins

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2012 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Community.
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