As my wife had to travel East for an association event of her own, I made the trek West to our State’s Capitol City.
Secondary to meeting the boss in Pierre, I had a particular purpose in mind returning to my hometown. (No, not pointing out the collapse of sensible governing in the South Dakota State Legislature.) Much like a modern day dumpster diver treasure hunter, I needed a particular item.
With Governor Rhoden taking office, an inaugural ball is a bit unusual, as, they have not had an event like this for a mid-term succession to office before. And certainly, they had not been commemorated with a pin, so I found myself needing to get one of the official inaugural committee inaugural ball pins, and I needed to strike while the iron is hot as any leftovers tend to quickly be scattered to the wind.
And right off, I managed to beg/get hooked up with the highest levels of state government, and was able to successfully obtain this 2025 “official” South Dakota Inaugural Pin for my collection:
This might be the largest of the Inaugural pins, if not equal to the size of the large Inaugural pin from Governor George S. Mickelson’s first inaugural in 1987.
I’ll do a bit of a further comparison when I get back home with it, but huge thanks to everyone who helped me acquire this, as it’s a great addition to keeping my set current.