Nancy Reagan Draws 400 Visitors to Library

SIMI VALLEY — Taking his place in a long line outside the gift shop at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, John Kovach waited eagerly Wednesday for the moment he had traveled so far to enjoy.

The private school administrator came from Baltimore on Tuesday night just to see former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

Tucked under Kovach’s arm were a few gifts: a framed drawing his 6-year-old daughter rendered of a horse that former President Ronald Reagan frequently rode, and a medal Kovach won while playing on the U.S. National Field Hockey Team in 1979.

Kovach was there to hand the items over to Reagan at a book signing hosted by the library. Afterward, he would catch a late flight back home.

The former first lady, flanked by Secret Service agents, strolled into the Reagan Library to sign copies of her autobiography, “My Turn.” About 400 people were on hand.

“This is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Kovach said. “I’ve always admired Mrs. Reagan and President Reagan very much. When I first visited [the Reagan Library] about a year ago, there was something about the location of the library, the serenity, that drew me back.”

Kovach’s midweek jaunt from the East Coast was intended specifically to meet Mrs. Reagan and give her gifts from his family. He hoped she and the former president would enjoy the art and medal and figured the gifts would someday end up in a vault at the Reagan Library.

“I will feel that I’ve been able to present them with something that’s meant a lot to me,” he said.