A 12-year-old girl from Mt. Lebanon. An 81-year-old former Tuskegee airman from the Hill District. A self-described "nerdy jock" high-schooler from Gibsonia. A convicted felon who with his young nephew in tow became one of the Obama campaign's most productive volunteers.

All of these Pittsburghers are boarding cars, buses and airplanes to Washington, D.C., this weekend for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, braving bitter cold and huge crowds for the chance to see some history.

Some of them, like Wendell Freeland, have seen plenty of it already.

The 83-year-old Squirrel Hill lawyer is going to the inaugural with his fellow Tuskegee Airmen -- who have been promised an up-close spot at Tuesday's swearing in. As a member of the fabled elite black pilot corps in World War II, and later as an activist in the civil rights movement, Mr. Freeland is savoring the particular glory of this moment -- especially when he remembers how he was reprimanded in 1945 after he and other black soldiers tried to enter an all-white officers club.

That reprimand wasn't rescinded until 1995, and now, 13 years later, he and his daughter, Lisa Freeland, are on their way to the inauguration of the first African-American president. They'll be heading to Maryland tomorrow to stay with friends, then reconnoitering with about 225 of his comrades at Bolling Air Force base early Tuesday morning before boarding buses to Washington.

"I've built up a lot of excitement about this damn thing," said Mr. Freeland. "But maybe that's because my memory is not as good as it used to be. I was excited the day before I was married, and when my daughter was born, but this has to be one of the most exciting times of my life."

Megan Schilken hasn't seen as much history as Mr. Freeland in her 12 years, but she's been glued to the television set all year watching the campaign unfold.

"At the beginning I liked the idea of the first woman and the first African-American running, and it was fun watching who the front runner was and who wasn't," said Megan, a resident of Mt. Lebanon and a seventh-grader at St. Bernard School. She's been invited to attend the event through the People to People ambassadorship program, which seeks to interest young people in government and public service. Along with several hundred other students, she will tour all of the city's major monuments, see a performance at the Kennedy Center, and, most importantly, get to stand on the Mall Tuesday during the inauguration ceremony.

"I am definitely looking forward to it," she said, "even though I know it'll be crowded. I figure, what the heck, just have fun."

It was definitely fun being fitted for a tuxedo for Troy Szwaczkowski, a Deer Lakes High School sophomore -- "my first time ever," he said.

Troy is one of a select group of students chosen by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council to attend the inaugural.

A top student and basketball player, he jokes that he's a jock "who's also kind of nerdy."

No matter: All that studying is paying off. His group will be meeting with former Vice President Al Gore and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, among others, when not attending leadership seminars.

"I hope I get to meet Obama," said Troy, 15, of Gibsonia, adding that former President Bill Clinton would be a close second.

He hopes to attend West Point, but he doesn't see politics in his future. "My mom says I'm too honest," he laughed.

For Calvin Skinner, 35, of Homewood, this weekend's trip to Washington marks the culmination of a process that began a year ago, when Mr. Obama won the Iowa primary.

"There was all sorts of Obama fever in our house," Mr. Skinner said. "And I knew I had to do something about it."

During the Pennsylvania primary, Mr. Skinner became an Obama volunteer and was so productive -- as a neighborhood captain he ultimately would register 735 voters in all -- that the campaign hired him as a paid staffer during the general election.

He would work 100-hour weeks, often with his 8-year-old nephew, Dairon, tagging along.

"He spent the entire Fourth of July with me, from 6 in the morning to 11:30 at night, while I registered voters. It really became an integral part of our family experience."

Mr. Skinner promised his nephew he would take him to the inaugural, and he's made good on that promise -- they have two tickets to the swearing-in and to an inaugural ball Tuesday night followed by a party for Obama staffers on Wednesday.

"We'll be wearing our snowsuits on the mall," he said. "We'll look like we're going on a ski trip."

This trip to Washington represents quite a turnaround from two years ago, when Mr. Skinner was released from prison after serving time for a federal conviction for wire fraud. After a youth spent immersing himself in drugs, "I vowed I was going to change things about my life."

And so he has, becoming closer to his family. While his mother and father -- a noted Hill District street photographer also named Calvin Skinner -- are deceased, he is dedicated to what he calls his "non-traditional" family: his aunt, Sandra Burton, and Dairon.

Still, the last year hasn't always been easy.

"There were times when I would say to Dairon, 'I'm never going to work for a presidential campaign again.' And this little boy looked at me and said, 'Not even mine?' And that brought me full circle, making me realize that one of the reasons I did this was so Dairon could see that an African-American can do anything in this country."

Actually, he added with a laugh, "Dairon wants to be a football player first and then a politician. Only in Pittsburgh would a kid want to play football first and then be president of the United States."