A crowd of 100 people paid $30 apiece at a barbecue honoring former President Ronald Reagan at the Pahrump Valley Museum last Saturday, a benefit for the Nye County Republican Party.

The barbecue was held two days after the fourth anniversary of Reagan's death at age 93 on June 5, 2004.

Ace Robison, a consultant who worked on Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, was the key note speaker. Robison recalled meeting Reagan at a young age, while Robison was an active member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Robison lauded Reagan as a man with tremendous vision, who was able to speak for all times.

While Reagan, as an actor, was head of the Screen Actors Guild of California, Robison recalled how, as president, Reagan gave an ultimatum to air traffic controllers they would lose their job if they went on strike. Robison said that decision was made to prevent crippling the transportation industry.

Robison was formerly chairman of the Nevada Republican party, a chief of staff for former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., and is currently a member of the Colorado River Commission.

Robison and Paul Seidler run the Robison-Seidler consulting firm, which specializes in strategic planning, government affairs and issue management in energy, water, environmental management and education sectors. Robison-Seidler is working with the U.S. Department of Energy on promoting a Caliente rail corridor for the Yucca Mountain Project. Former Nye County Commissioner Candice Trummell works for the firm.

Phil Huff, manager of the Pahrump Valley Museum and Historical Society and an avid motorcyclist, recalled how Reagan was asked to protect Harley Davidson from foreign competition by putting trade restrictions on imported motorcycles larger than 750 cc. That restriction was lifted four years later when Harley Davidson's business boomed, he said.

Huff said his uncle lived down the street from Reagan in Pacific Palisades, Calif., while Reagan was the host of the popular western series "Death Valley Days." Huff said his nephew-in-law works at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

The Patio catered the barbecue. Dan Schinhofen provided musical entertainment on guitar. A number of local Republican officials were in attendance, including Commissioners Peter Liakopoulos, Butch Borasky and Joni Eastley, Fifth District Judge Robert Lane, District Attorney Bob Beckett and others.