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PAGE 14A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 21. 2011
Bill Anderson and The Po Folks Band played two sets Saturday night in a concert to benefit the Bill Anderson Scholarship fund.
Anderson ••• Cont. from Page 1A
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Country Music Hall of Fame member and longtime performer on the Grand
Ole Opry Bill Anderson played before a full house Saturday night. The CHS
auditorium — the Bill Anderson Center for the Reforming Arts — was also
officially dedicated. Above, Anderson hams it up for the crowd during the
first set.
Anderson remembered
how it got started, with the
late Gerald Jordan con
tacting Anderson in 1997
to do a free performance
at Tiger Stadium to com
memorate the 40th anni
versary of WJJC Radio.
“I got carried away and
said, 'y’all want to do this
again next year?’ Ten years
later we were still doing
it. We did it every June
for 10 years,” he recalled.
Proceeds from that event
went into a special fund and
ultimately helped equip the
new auditorium when the
new high school was built.
During those years,
Anderson and his band,
the Po Folks, played, as
did the Jordanaires, but
Anderson always brought
additional talent ranging
from aging legends like
Ray Price and Mel Tillis
to newcomers like Brad
Paisley and Vince Gill.
“They all came and
played for free,” Anderson
pointed out.
He made a point of
remembering three who
have since died — Johnny
Russell, Billy Walker and
Jimmy Dean.
Anderson singled out
the late Gerald Jordan, his
voice breaking:
“None of this would
have happened without
Gerald taking the bull by
the horns when he did,”
he remarked. “He was the
push behind it and we lost
him way too soon.”
Saturday’s event had two
primary purposes — to
dedicate the performing
arts center in Anderson’s
name and to raise money
for a Bill Anderson
Scholarship to be awarded
to CHS students. But
it also gave Anderson
another chance to stroll
down Memory Lane with
his fans — some who came
from as far away as New
Mexico.
He recalled being fired
at WNGC by owner H.
Randolph Holder for play
ing country music. “Then
they built a radio station
and played nothing but
country music and sold it
for $80 million,” he said
with a laugh. “Go figure.”
But Holder had arranged
to send Anderson to
WJJC, which was just
going on the air, and on
the day Grady Cooper
signed on for the first
time, Anderson was in the
control booth.
“Grady Cooper should
have killed me about 10
times,” Anderson told the
audience. “I’d sit there
in the control booth and
talk to a little duck. I had
this little duck, and he’s
out there in the trophy
case. Josh Waddlesforth
McDuck was his full
name. Grady Cooper
allowed me to sit in the
booth, act like a fool, play
music and talk to a duck.
He was a wonderfully kind
man I didn’t know it at
the time, but he was allow
ing me to learn, to grow
and to do something that
I would... I think most of
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After Rob Jordan, left, presented the plaque dedicating the Bill Anderson
Center for the Performing Arts, Anderson accepted the congratulations
of Rodney Gary and Mary Seabolt, school board members; CHS principal
Donnie Drew, superintendent of schools Mac McCoy and Mayor Charles L.
Hardy Jr.
will hang in the auditorium
Rob Jordan, who spear
headed the event, had one
last surprise.
“At all of the City Lights
Concerts, the Po Folks, Bill
and Gerald were always
here, and I think he’s here
tonight,” Jordan said. “He
always wanted to sing in
this place, and tonight he’s
going to get to.”
The event ended with the
recorded voice of Gerald
Jordan singing “It Is No
Secret.”
Rob Jordan on Monday
offered gratitude for the
success of Saturday eve
ning.
“I would like to offer
my sincerest gratitude to
everybody, not just the
committee and volunteers
this year, but all the vol
unteers of all the years
passed,” he said. “We owe
them a great debt of grati
tude.”
Jordan said the concert
committee will meet with
in the next week or two to
calculate how much the
event earned for the schol
arship fund. The goal, he
said, is to award a $1,000
scholarship annually.
us in this business would
do it for free if we could
afford to.”
Anderson was clearly
moved to have the audito
rium named for him and a
scholarship created in his
name.
“Promise me one thing,”
he said, his voice near
breaking. “Whomever wins
or is the recipient of the
Bill Anderson Scholarship
every year, would you
please have them get in
touch with me? I want to
get to know them. I want
to know the people who
win the Bill Anderson
Scholarship. I want to fol
low their careers because
I’ve got a feeling some
good things are going to
happen, and none of it
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would have happened if
you hadn’t taken me into
your hearts and your pock-
etbooks and supported
this for all these years.
God bless you.”
Anderson performed
two sets. After the second,
WJJC station manager
Rob Jordan presented
Anderson with a plaque
commemorating the nam
ing of the auditorium
as school board mem
bers, superintendent
Mac McCoy and Mayor
Charles L. Hardy Jr. stood
nearby on the stage.
Caleb Jordan, Gerald’s
son, unveiled a photo
taken from one of the
first City Lights Concerts,
featuring Anderson and
Gerald and Rob Jordan. It
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