The Bill Ritter team is going all out for his inaugural. Festivities will last a week, during which Ritter will tour the state by plane and train.

The festivities begin on January 9 with Ritter’s swearing-in ceremony.

The 11 a.m. swearing-in ceremony will be on the west steps of the Capitol. It will include a military flyover, a cannon salute and live music and dance performances. After the ceremony, Ritter and Lt. Gov.-elect Barbara O’Brien, will greet members of the public in the Capitol rotunda. Coffee and cookies will be served.

The big party is January 12 at the Convention Center where there will be a dinner and concert, with reasonably priced tickets. The next morning, Ritter will begin his state-wide tour.

Ritter will board a vintage Union-Pacific train for a whistle-stop tour of the Front Range. He’ll make stops in Greeley, Brighton, Littleton, Colorado Springs and end the day with a spaghetti dinner in Pueblo. On Jan. 20-21, Ritter will embark upon a tour of the rest of the state by plane, hitting rallies at various locations.

The cost is being picked up by “corporate and individual sponsors.” Since the money is being funneled through a non-profit corporation, it doesn’t run afoul of Amendment 41 and is on the up and up.