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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.
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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.
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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.
