I bought this giant 6 inch pin for the South Dakota Delegation for the 1984 GOP National Convention the other day, not because I needed it (I already have one or two running around), but when I saw it on eBay, it was #1, cheap, and #2 the only one I’ve ever seen that was signed by many of the delegates. And I needed that early Lee Schoenbeck signature.
The signatures are a snapshot of the delegates attending who nominated Ronald Reagan to be our candidate, and there are a lot of names you might recognize.
As mentioned, Lee Schoenbeck signed, and the Unruh’s were there as well. So was Murdo’s Dave Geisler, Jim Bolin, Mike Assman, State Representative Walter Zabel, Senator Larry Pressler as well as State GOP Chair Dan Parish who wasn’t so much a Larry fan.
A number of other names I recognize, including long time carriers of water for the elephant Joanie Johnson & Bill Johnson. If you’re not familiar, you’ve probably heard of their grandson.
He might be our next Governor.
Wow, good to see his penmanship has improved…some.
I have my badge from the ’64 (Goldwater) convention. I was a page.
There’s a lot of really great people that signed on the back of that pin.