Katelyn Dale - May 2, 2025

On Saturday the 26th, the Pennington County GOP put on their annual Lincoln Day Day dinner. There was a silent and live auction. From there, state level representatives were recognized, and among those in attendance were the Secretary of State Monae Johnson, and South Dakota House Majority Leader and District 31 representative Scott Odenbach. Also in attendance were the Black Hills State University College Republicans.

Once dinner was served, keynote speaker Steve King took the stage. Mr. King comes from a long line of law enforcement and was a former Congressman for Iowa (2003-2021). He spoke on many issues, like the World Economic Forum and Property rights in regards to carbon pipelines and eminent domain, which he staunchly opposes. Mr King also wrote a book detailing his experiences titled, Walking Through the Fire. He is now the founder and president of Free Soil Foundation and of Free Action.

Lawrence County Republican party will be having their Lincoln Day dinner on May 17, 2025 at the Holiday Inn Spearfish Convention Center, doors open at 5pm for the social hour and the program starts at 6pm. Speakers will include Scott Odenbach, Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, Attorney General Marty Jackley, District 31 Representatives Mary Fitzgerald and Randy Deibert.

A Lincoln Day Dinner is an annual event held by county level Republican parties as a fundraiser featuring key speakers, elected officials and candidates. It is named after Abraham Lincoln who helped found the party and was the first elected Republican president. It is commonly held in February on or around Lincoln's birthday (February 12th), but can be held anytime of year and counties in a single state tend to spread their dinners out to allow for attendance to multiple events.

Democrats have the same annual type event called Jefferson–Jackson Dinner also named after their party's founders, Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.