D.A. Sharpe of Aurora and Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks had sent photos from Monday night’s Texas Black Tie & Boots Ball.

And lawyer Jason Smith had dashed off an e-mail when he headed to the Metro to join the crushing crowds determined to witness history.

Before I’d even finished posting all that info on the Star-Telegram’s Politex blog, Southwest High School teacher Samuel Wilson was phoning in predawn photos of freezing Fort Worth teens huddling like penguins while they waited for the most unforgettable event of their young lives.

To think that, up until this week, I still considered iPhones and similar phone gadgetry largely expensive toys — fun, inventive, fascinating, sure, but still an extravagance.

Call me a convert.

The new-media seers who are reshaping the business of gathering and disseminating news keep telling us to engage our audiences, to enlist and cultivate "citizen journalists."

We old-media types who started out on Selectric typewriters keep asking how we do that in ways that make sense and actually enhance what we produce and present to those seeking information from us.

When the Star-Telegram Editorial Board asked Tarrant-area residents who planned to attend Obama’s inauguration to act as extra eyes and ears for our readers, we hoped they’d provide unique views.

And surely they did.

Jennifer Perez and Joe Eggleston, a couple of young Fort Worth school district employees, shared their sleep-depriving drive to D.C. in a Kia to camp in the cold and wing it around the capital for a taste of the euphoria.

Who else would have told us about the vendors selling Barack Ojamas and Barack Obama body spray: "Who knew he smelled like lemon zest?"

Sharpe, a longtime Republican activist, sent a veritable photo album of Union Station, congressional offices, the Supreme Court and various festivities. His most memorable picture? Had to be the mummified gangster at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Gaithersburg, Md.

Wilson, who was leading a 42-member contingent from Southwest and Arlington Heights high schools, faithfully shared photos and commentary.

And I started getting text messages from teenagers who weren’t seeking a curfew extension or permission to spend the night at a friend’s house.

"Everyone here seems to be a huge Obama aficionado, unlike Fort Worth, where everyone and their dog is die-hard Republican," wrote Heights student Megan Newman. "We also met some kids from Rhode Island who are here to march in the parade. They were really nice!"

Elizabeth Boswell from Heights wrote on Tuesday, "We all thought that Obama’s speech was absolutely amazing! He is such a great speaker, and his words were very strong and overpowering. .  .  . I just hope that he follows through with everything he says."

Jason Smith, a Hillary Clinton supporter who backed Obama after Democrats nominated him, reported that the crowd en route to the Mall on a Metro Blue Line train spontaneously started singing God Bless America and that Fort Worth businesswoman Lupe Arriola told him she might run for Fort Worth City Council.

Hicks sent not just photos but emotional e-mails filled with personal and historical context:

"As I rode the Metro side-by-side with my mother, I thought about the many triumphs and, yes, struggles she has endured as an African-American female in America," Hicks wrote on Inauguration Day.

"Yes, it was cold and crowded and long, but it was so very worth it to be there to bear witness. Yes, I have been crying all day, for my ancestors — slaves who built the Capitol — and for all who paved the way and for this wonderful country that made it possible for the son of an immigrant from Kenya to rise to the highest office in the land.

"I was particularly struck by President Obama’s (wow — never thought I would be able to say that!) message to reach across party lines, lines of race and gender, all the lines that divide us. He also preached about personal responsibility, to the community, to our country and for our fellow human beings."

Our bloggers were enthusiastic and insightful — and they all were volunteers.

Many thanks to all of you for sharing.