RALEIGH — Rawley King of Mount Airy has never been part of inauguration festivities for a North Carolina governor, but will get that chance Saturday night.

King will be a special guest at a $500-per-ticket VIP reception to be part of a large inauguration party for new Gov. Pat McCrory at Raleigh Convention Center.

He is believed to be the only Surry County resident who will attend the reception, based on a check of the guest list Wednesday by Dan Spuller, a McCrory spokesman.

“I’m the only one that I know of,” King said Wednesday while on a bus to the state’s capital to witness McCrory being sworn in to office. He was accompanied on that trip by other local residents including Surry County Commissioners Buck Golding and Paul Johnson.

King said he became enamored with the Republican candidate who defeated Democrat Walter Dalton in the November general election.

He was on hand when McCrory announced his gubernatorial campaign at an event in Greensboro and later saw him speak in April at a gathering held at Pike Electric here, and on another occasion in Wilkesboro.

King, a military veteran who has held leadership posts at Veterans Memorial Park, served as McCrory’s Surry County campaign manager among other support.

He is excited about Saturday night’s VIP reception, a sold-out affair that Spuller expects about 1,000 people to attend. “This will be my first one,” the local man said of such an event.

No tickets remain for either the VIP reception or the “Nothing Could be Finer” inauguration party at the convention center.

“Tickets for the two events have exceeded our most optimistic projections,” said Jay Bryant, president of the sponsoring Foundation for North Carolina organization. “There is simply no space left.”

Meanwhile, King thinks McCrory will be a man of the people during his tenure, regardless of political party.

“I believe that he just won’t be on one side — he’ll be for everybody,” he said. “I just know he’ll be a good governor.”

Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@civitasmedia.com.