About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2013)
lahilHHRhilihifeiifei MMaitHrtlHia General Lee & Rosco’s Sheriff Car will be there along with Chris Jennings, Event Producer of The Dukes of Hazzard Georgia Reunion. Purchase Advance Tickets. SuTWlMiy to raptor tor Mat 0v—iwy Bounce Houses for the kids, Food and more! Reunion Producer Grew Up Watching Dukes Of Hazzard & Loves A Challenge By Abigail Adams The Byron Buzz Chris Jennings is taking on a big task trying to fill the Middle Georgia Raceway to capacity with Dukes of Haz zard fans from around the country, but to him it is just another way to amaze people, as well as bring one of his fa vorite television show casts to Byron, GA. “I have always been a suck er for a challenge and I love trying to do things that amaze people. So that is where the Dukes of Hazzard Georgia Reunion Classic Car Show and Music Festival planning began,” Jennings stated. So how did Jennings come up with this great challenge? Well, it began in 1979 with Jennings growing up on his weekly dose of Duke’s mad ness on the television set. “I remember rushing in on Friday night to make sure I did not miss the show. I really grew up on the Dukes of Haz zard.” So for someone who grew up watching the Dukes meeting Sonny “Enos Strate” Shroyer at the Covington Christmas Parade was definitely a big deal and for Jennings the start of a friendship that could only be classified as a Dukes fan’s dream. Jennings and his wife owned a car lot in Gray, GA and after meeting Shroyer and his wife, Paula, the Jennings couple asked if he would be interested in doing commer cials for their lot. “He really seemed excit ed. After exchanging phone numbers, Sonny called me a few weeks later. As a mat ter of fact, it was New Year’s day. Sonny called to wish us Happy New Year. I know he is a busy man, so for him to call me out of the blue, it re ally meant a lot,” Jennings said about the beginning of his friendship with Shroyer. Though Shroyer never did City employees and many other well-wishers attended a retirement celebration for City Clerk Betty Sims Friday night. Above Mayor Larry Collins reads a proclamation proclaming it Betty Sims Day in Byron. Below, Fire Chief J. D. Mosby presented her with a certificate as an honorary fireman. At left Betty is all smiles. PHOTOS BY DANIEL VARGA. do the commercials for the Jennings’ car lot, the friend ship did not end there. Jen nings put together a classic car show for a program at his church and asked Shroyer to make an appearance and sign autographs, but not only did Jennings get “Enos”, he also had “Sheriff Roscoe P. Col- trane” at the event as well. “During planning and in conversation, I made a state ment about having Sheriff Roscoe there and he (Shroy er) said he would have him call me. And he did. We put the show together and it was a HUGE success! So from there it just gave me larger ideas,” Jennings said about his first time with part of the original cast. “While the actors and their wives were in town, we spent a lot of time together. We ate together, sang togeth er, and laughed together. It was GREAT!” Another event was men tioned during their time to gether. Jennings saw another challenge on the horizon and the Dukes of Hazzard Georgia Reunion was created. When asked why the Middle Geor gia Raceway for the venue, Jennings says it’s all about the history related to the track and the state of Georgia itself. “I thought it would be the perfect location. With this being a historic racetrack in Georgia where the Dukes of Hazzard television show was founded. And this track was originally shut down after a moonshine still was found un der turn three. It just seemed like the perfect venue!” Jennings contacted Tim Thornton, one of the partner ing owners of the Middle GA Raceway and planning began. The Dukes Reunion will be the first of its kind although there have been many other events featuring the Dukes, most of the other events are one or two day shows. Jen nings has added a third day to his event making the re union a whopping three days and while other shows feature only replicas of the original show’s cars, there will be over 500 classic and antique cars at the raceway the weekend of the event. Seven of the original cast members have been contacted to be at the event on Saturday and Sunday rubbing elbows with fans and signing auto graphs. For the music lov ers there will also be eleven concerts from big names like David Allan Coe and Confed erate Railroad, to local art ists like Rusty Williams and Shane Bridge’s Band, going on from Friday to Sunday. “Not only is this a fun filled event for Dukes fans, car en thusiasts and music lovers, we will have bounce houses, rock walls, bungee jumps, slides, helicopter rides, pony rides, humvees, army tanks, 200 Tim and his staff at Tim’s Total Fitness want to congratulate Mr. Frank Cross and wish him a happy birthday, he recently turned 92. Frank is from Fort Valley, and is a member at Tim’s To tal Fitness. Frank enjoyed his birthday working out at the gym. ” I would like to thank all the seniors who come and use the gym. It’s real en couraging to see people at this age being active and enjoying life,” said Tim Reyonolds, owner. Sonny Shroyer (Enos) and event producer Chris Jennings. vendors and more! This show is a once in a lifetime experi ence and is sure to be a sold out show,” Jennings stated. So bring the children along! The event is scheduled to start March 8th at 4 p.m. with a concert starring local coun try music singer Rusty Wil liams and David Allan Coe at 7:30 p.m. To get your tickets for either one day or all three, you can find them at The Big Peach Antique Mall and The Welcome Center at The Peach Shops in Byron, Victory Lane Auto Sales and Flooring Spe cialist in Warner Robins, or online at www.dukesofhaz- zardgareunion.com. This Saturday there will be a live radio broadcast from Big Peach Antique Mall fear ing Chris and the General Lee and Rosco’s Sheriff Car, from 1-3 p.m. There will be bounce houses for the kids, food and more. Julie Love, left, of Comforting Quilters accepts a $100 check from Joan Ray of Clean Control Corpo ration of Warner Robins for the Sandy Hook Proj ect. The group with volunteers and donations from the community, is making 26 quilts to be delivered to Newton, CT once completed. To follow the project or make a donation visit the blog at http://comfort- ingquilters.blogspot.com The next workshop will be Saturday, February 16 at Love’s home. Inset photo is one finished block. The project is being docu mented with photos as well by Bonnie Gehling. The group is asking you to remember the Valentines at Sandy Hook and donate a tax deductible $14 which will go toward the creation of the memory book be ing created for each family. W f - H W - Jr i i 1 JT -» - *jj ygl j J 1 fr - For the second year in a a row the Byron Middle School competition dance team won first place at the dance competition this past weekend. There were seven elementary schools and four middle schools competing. The competition was held at Peach County High School.
