Over the Hill Gang
Gabby KilgoreOpry in the Park, a showcase for local talent and "a good excuse" to hang out with old friends and make new ones, returns to Veterans Park in Soddy-Daisy on Saturday, Sept. 27.
In a news release, founder Floyd Bledsoe says he was inspired to organize the monthly concert series after visiting with family members at a funeral wake and "thinking how I hadn't seen most of them since the last time somebody in the family died. Then I realized that the funeral home is the only place I see them, except on Facebook, and Facebook doesn't really count."
Bledsoe says he considers it a "terrible tragedy that somebody we love has to die before we finally turn off the TV, computer and video games and go visit each other. When we stay cooped up at home all the time, we miss out on the healing effects of talking, laughing and being merry with other people. The Bible says, 'A merry heart doeth good like a medicine' (Proverbs 17:22), and we need all of that we can get these days."
Opry in the Park, he says, gives everyone "a good excuse to visit with each other and have fun without somebody having to die."
Set to perform this month are Floyd Bledsoe and Big Fluff Band, Randy Hatfield and the Over the Hill Gang, Spectacle, Back to Back with Carolyn Howard and Don Goode, Gabby Kilgore, Ron Wallin, Peter Miller, Ginger Coulter, Jeffrey Lambert and Charlie Taylor.
Hatfield and Miller are helping Bledsoe produce the show, which starts at noon and lasts until about 8:30 p.m. The day will include a mix of country, bluegrass and gospel music.
"Nobody could blame you if you took the day off, brought a chair and did absolutely nothing all day long except eat funnel cakes and hamburgers while you talk, swap lies and laugh out loud with your friends and family before it's too late," Bledsoe says.
Admission is free. Concessions will be sold on-site. Veterans Park is in the 9000 block of Dayton Pike on the south end of Soddy-Daisy.
For more information, email floydbledsoe@ymail.com.