Dakota Beacon

 I was born and raised in small town America.  I should say, I was raised in a small town in North Dakota which in itself is a small city with a 450-mile main street. As a youngster you could say I was introduced to “life on the farm” which consisted of being tied to a stool while my mama and big sister did the morning milking, and riding the laundry basket to the cellar in anticipation of a scene from the wizard oz (I never could open my eyes during the part where the nasty old lady was riding her bike out Dorothy’s bedroom window), and starting country school at age 4.

The next experience I had as a kid came as a result of moving to the big city of Washburn.  It boasted of its status as the county seat of McLean County and a basketball team that played teams from other towns!

There my dad became an implement dealer and eventually bought one of the two grocery stores on main street. My destiny was taking shape before my eyes. My future partner-in-life ran by the little white ranch-style house where I lived (little did I know it then) and after trying to keep up with her all the way-up the big hill, I settled for watching her from the window. I decided I couldn’t live without her but didn’t let her in on that little secret for a number of years.

It came time when young men went off to college and this little grocer stayed home!  My father didn’t share my love for higher education and conveniently decided to retire soon after my high school graduation.  He waited until I was married and settled down before he actually sold the grocery store to me; I was 21 years of age.  My wife and I bought a house and settled in for what she thought the long haul.

But I’m going to tell another part of my story—the part that outlines why I am here after over 40 years writing a column as a conservative for weekly newspapers.  I started my life as a serial entrepreneur in that 10,000 sq ft building in Washburn on HWY 83.  

By a long (and far from smooth) circuitous path, and 3 million miles on airplanes, I recently moved to a little white ranch-style house on HWY 83 just up the road a piece from that store. My ideal plan is to write, host a TV show on BEK, garden and ride well-broke horses with my grandchildren and my partner-for-life who still looks good enough in athletic shorts to turn my head.

Not surprising given his decidedly blue-collar working man’s identity, my father voted democrat. Since I’ve always been a bleeding heart who sides with the underdog, I guess I thought I was one too!  While writing a paper my senior year at Washburn High on the Presidential race, I discovered something!  

When you look at the issues and general philosophic ideals subscribed by Republicans, I definitely was no democrat. After Jerry Ford’s loss to Carter and subsequent consequences, I knew I wanted something different.  I became a Reagan follower and have been promoting his ideals ever since. I’d like to believe that Reagan style Republicanism is still appealing to most Americans and would hope folks can hear what I have to say!!

Emineth is a North Dakota native businessman and political activist. He is a former executive director and chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. Emineth has served on the Republican National Committee and chaired numerous presidential campaigns in North Dakota. He is the host of “The Legislature Today” and “Open Range” daily TV shows on BEK. He is a serial entrepreneur and has 40-plus years of business experience with multi-national companies. He has traveled the world extensively and has served as CEO and president of mid-tier companies.