Supporters of Barack Obama have already begun gathering at Ke'ehi Lagoon Beach Park this morning, six hours before he is expected to speak at a rally.

By 11:30 a.m., about 200 people stood in a line waiting to get into a cordoned-off area of the park's lawn, where Obama will address the crowd.

Secret Service agents were surveying the area and the crowd and officials have parked five city buses on the line to serve as a barricade.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, (D-Hawaii), said Hawaii has never seen an event like Obama's rally, followed by his week-long vacation.

"Who's ever been nominated for president from Hawaii before?" Abercrombie asked.

Abercrombie plans on attending today's rally with U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, (D-Hawaii), and Mayor Mufi Hannemann and expects to see thousands of Obama supporters.

"They'll want to see the next president of the United States," Abercrombie said. "He'll acknowledge all of the volunteers and supporters and, after that everybody knows he's going to try and build up his reserves for the sprint to the convention and all the way to November. Hopefully, he'll go surfing, visit his grandmother, say hello to old pals and and recharge his batteries."

Karen Newman, 50, of Hawaii Kai, arrived when the park was pitch black at 4:40 a.m.

As maintenance crews worked on the park, Newman sat in her car until the sun came out.

"This is probably the single most historic event in my lifetime, not only for us as a country, but as a state," Newman said. "This is extraordinarily historical."

Newman calls herself "an absolute fanatic" who follows news of Obama's campaign on all the major television networks.

"There's feelings behind the words and you really feel that he sincerely cares and wants to turn this country in a different direction," she said. "More importantly, his ideas sound very practical and very achievable. He has such a charismatic way about him."

Obama campaign supporter Tony Agao, 57, of Salt Lake, works as a technician for TheBus but has volunteered with the Hawaii Obama campaign for the last several months.

He wore a white Obama T-shirt this morning and brought along a family photo album and a book about Obama that Agao hoped to get autographed.

Agao supports Obama because "he's the only one that's actually bringing the people back as one."

"I see the future in his eyes and that's where the heart comes from," Agao said. "Nobody ever thought a local boy would run for president."

Organizers invited people to gather at the park at 12:30 p.m. but people such as Dr. Gautam Deschpande showed up before 9 a.m., armed with an iPod, a book and drawing materials.

Deschpande, who specializes in internal medicine at Kuakini Medical Center at Hawaii Medical Center East, has never heard Obama speak in person and wanted to see the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee up close.

"This is history in the making to me, which is why I'm here so early," Deschpande said. "It's history making for so many different reasons: He is the first black (presidential) candidate but I think he's also the last best hope for bringing reason and sanity back to government."