Wednesday was a day of celebration and recovery for the thousands of volunteers across the nation who had worked for more than a year to see former Illinois junior Sen. Barack Obama elected president. Among those knocking on doors and making last-minute phone calls Tuesday night was a core of several dozen local volunteers at Obama’s election headquarters on Second Street in downtown Corvallis.

With the results of the election fast-approaching Tuesday night, the volunteers rushed in and out of campaign headquarters, clipboards in hand. The volunteers were part of a “Get Out the Vote” effort to ensure that registered voters had actually filled out their ballots and dropped them off.

Steve Wojcikiewicz registered as a Democrat for the first time this year in order to participate in the Democratic primary and vote for Obama.

“It’s great that a guy who used to study constitutional law (ran) for president,” Wojcikiewicz said.

As the election drew to a close Tuesday night, Wojcikiewicz was focused on training canvassers rather than watching election coverage on television.

“We’re not looking at the results,” he said. “We don’t want to be distracted.”

Cindy Paden was a lifelong Democrat but a first-time political volunteer who had been working at the Obama headquarters for the last month. Paden said her daughter, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Oregon, was so excited about voting for the first time that she had Paden take a picture of her dropping her first ballot into the drop-box.

“Kids are so much more educated about politics than I was,” Paden said. “I didn’t feel like my vote counted. In high school, they didn’t spend time teaching us about politics.”

Obama supporter Cheryl Hatch used to cover presidential elections for the Associated Press. Now she’s a first-time volunteer who still was getting used to the idea that she can finally be a participant, rather than an observer, in the political process.

“I liked the tenor of (Obama’s) campaign,” she said. “He has kept it on a high level.”

Hatch paid close attention to media coverage and attended speeches and rallies. She said Obama’s success, and his rise from community organizer to senator to presidential contender, were inspiring.

“Look at what this man has been able to do in the face of all these obstacles,” she said.