Almost 180 new U.S. citizens were officially inducted into the land of opportunity yesterday in an auditorium that didn't have room for about 150 of their relatives and friends who came to the naturalization ceremony.

“It's so sad looking at all these people who can't participate in what should be a wonderful day of celebration,” said Nancy Hammond, who made a six-hour, round-trip drive from Hilliard, Ohio, to watch a friend become a citizen.

Because of fire code limits, she was among those relegated to the lobby of the Main Toledo-Lucas County Public Library's McMaster Family Center for Lifelong Learning.

Many in the lobby such as Chris Myers, whose wife was becoming a citizen, held cameras that they had planned to use to film the ceremony. At times during the speeches, swearing-in, and reading of names that took more than 90 minutes, the crowd outside became noisy and upset.

“How many languages can we cuss her out in?” Maria Dahmoun asked as she surveyed the crowd and eyed the doorkeeper.

Her husband was being sworn in and their children, who are in the first and second grades, had planned to tell their school classes about the ceremony during show-and-tell.

They were missing Judge John Potter of the U.S. District Court in Toledo tell the new citizens that he was a first-generation American, the son of an Englishman who had worked in a hops field and lived in a tiny cottage that two families shared.

They missed saying the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Louis Escobar, a Toledo city councilman. And they missed watching the new citizens raise their right hand for the oath of citizenship and then one-by-one walk proudly to the front of the room to receive their certificate and shake hands with officials.

Nearly 180 new citizens is far more than usual for local naturalization ceremonies. But federal court officials knew what the number would be at least 10 days ago and did not attempt to find another location, said Annie Crawford, federal court clerk.

The McMaster auditorium has 275 seats - enough for only half the new citizens to each have one guest watch them.

Kathryn Fell, events coordinator for the library, said she talked about those numbers with Ms. Crawford, who is responsible for arranging space for naturalization ceremonies.

Ms. Crawford said Immigration & Naturalization Service officials notified her of the unusually large number of new citizens for the ceremony too late for her to make other arrangements. She said she had no idea how many new citizens would bring family or friends. She has been employed by the court for 14 years.

Judge Potter who oversaw the ceremony said he had not known the size of the auditorium or how many people were prevented from entering at the beginning of the ceremony.

The 177 new citizens are from 48 countries. They are:

Australia - Kim Huyen Doan and Timothy Van Doan.

Bolivia - Gladys Miriam Patterson.

Brazil - Tatiana Baliu Teixeira De Souza and Monica Guilhon Moreira Baliu Monteiro.

Bulgaria - Penka Dimitrova Schwalbe and Mariana Alexandrova Stoeva.

Canada - Puja Bhalla, Randi L. Brower, Wyatt Edward Buckland, Linda Jean Couper, Paul Andrew MacLachlan, Barbara Anne McCallum, Ivan Scott McCallum, Lisa Marie Elizabeth McCallum, Michelle Lynne McCallum, Barry Winslow Vermeeren, and Diane E. Williams.

Chile - Ana Maria Smothers.

China - Song Cheng, Yan sun Cheng, Heng Wan Loi Cheong, Jeffy Ming Cui, Fang Fang, Chung Chien Han, Grace Huang, John Shaojiang Mo, Wenxiu Shi, Stephanie Yeung, Meiyi Yu, Rong Zeng, Liang Zhang, Biao Zheng, and Xiaoyu Zhu.

Colombia - Rosa Elena Said.

Croatia - Georgia Kovco.

Egypt - Hoda Bagdady and Hussam Eldin Abdelkader Elgamel.

France - Olivier Kunckler and Anne-Marie Francoise Scott.

Germany - Martin Kolbe, Birgit Christine Sartor, Tanja Janille Vogel, and Christiane Williams.

Guyana - Courtwright Kingsell Bradford and Mavis Yvonne Bradford.

Hong Kong - Yue Sara Lam.

Hungary - Constantin Jordache.

India - Manisha Satish Bhagwat, Satish Vishnu Bhagwat, Satinder Kaur, Sukhvir Kaur, Stephen Kumar, Shamita Rani Martin, Jimisha Gangaram Patel, Odhavji Govindbhai Patel, Ricky Patel, Shantaben Lallubhai Patel, Thakorhai Naranbhai Patel, Vijuben Odhavji Patel, Philomina Paul Pathadan, and Shireen Butoll Syed.

Iran - Mahin Golshani.

Iraq - Hazem Sarsam.

Israel - Alex Barkai and Olga Barkai.

Japan - Etsuko Mori Pfotenhauer.

Jamaica - Daretn Adonica Nugent.

Jordan - Ayman Saber Aburahma, Fayad Khalil Dajani, Nawal Fayad Dajani, Wafa Fayad Dajani, Ruba M. Hamoudeh, Zhuair Mahmoud Al Sharari, and Raif Abdelmuti Shath.

Kampuchea - Long Touch.

Kenya - Walter Wesoniga Siganga.

Korea - Moon Hi Choi.

Laos - Noi Malathong, Somsack Malathong, and Khanthong Thammaroth.

Lebanon - Oussama Barakat, Imad Bdeiri, Zeina Hamdan-Bdeiri, Lina Cheaib, Mohammad Samer Samir El Majzoub, Hana Ibrahim Fawaz, Vivianne Murphy, Fatima Mohamad Orra, Hamide A. Orra, MacBouleh Ramadan, and Mona Hassan Sayed.

Mexico - Justino Aguilar, Francisco Venustiano Bernal, Elena Cano, Ana Rmona Del Angel, Hermila Corona Espinosa, Jose Felix Espinosa, Rosa Nelida Gabriel, Ignacio Mendoza Garnica, Javier Saavedra Medina, Adela Torres Mesa, Mirna Zoila Nevarez, Cendy Perez, Ricardo Ramirez, Jesus Sanchez, Juan Jose Trevino Jr., J. Jesus Valdez, Beatriz Sepulveda Welch, and Ramon Zaragoza.

Morocco - Mickey Dahmoun, Samuel Jassim, Fatima Zahra Rakea, Latifa Rakea, Mohamed Rakea, and Youssef Rakea.

Netherlands - Antje Guldenschuh.

Nigeria - Vonoventure Chukwunaedum Okoro.

Pakistan - Fazal Hussain Khalid Durrani.

Philippines - Fermina Matienzo Bilog, Juliana Bonganay Campos, Cesar Salandanan Carino, Noris Garcia Carino, Leah Lasala Collins, Alma Jimenez Encarnacion, Theresa Estrera Edwards, Rosalia Bernedo Garrido, Teresita Mercado Minney. Allen Umali Naguit, Cecilia Dugenia Naguit, Mary Elizabeth Almeda-Quintero, and Marilyn D. Valentine.

Poland - Jozef James Ciszewski, Anna Durham, and Krystyna Niedziela.

Russia - Andrei Yurievich Boutylkine and Aleftina Stashonok.

Senegal - pape Babacar Ndiaye.

South Africa - Sharon Grace Naomi Grant.

South Korea - Mi Cha Linser, Sam Sehoon Oh, and Kyungmi Lee Roka.

Spain - Daniel Mohammed Jimenez.

Syria - Elham Muhammad serri Atassi, Sirin Darwich Hammoud, and Nizar Hohammad Kherallah.

Taiwan - Chang Mei Chih Chien, Wen Hsiung Chien, and You John Chow.

Thailand - Salintorn Kwanyajai, Anong Pipatjarasgit, and Pranee Pearl Schermerhorn.

Turkey - Muhittin Akdeniz and Tony Rock.

Ukraine - Lidiya Kolomiyets, Alex Viktorovich Kozlov, Egene Michael Royzman, and Chutova V. Ball Sevetlana.

United Kingdom - Jack Shu Pul Chan, David Hambleton, Janet Hambleton, Richard Ian Hambleton, Chor Chu Sandy Wong Hui, Sandra V. Kisell, Joanna Seymour Tunnicliffe, Paul Tunnicliffe, Stephanie Jill Vaez, Alice Mary Wikel, and Chee Kong Wong.

Venezuela - Daniel Mardini, Alejandro Rodriguez, and Diana Salem.

Vietnam - Trong Duc Ho, Johnny Nghia Le, Lieu Thi Phan, and Hong Lan Thi Tran.

Yugoslavia - Ron Karan.

First Published September 15, 2002, 12:45 p.m.