I ran across the program from the "I Love America" musical program that was presented by the "Holly Grove Centennial Chorus" on Sunday, July 25, on the porch of the Bent Rail Restaurant in downtown Holly Grove. Participants were a cross-section of people from town, all churches, all races, all ages.
Chorus members were: (sopranos) Jane Dearing, Jessie B. Debro, Nanette Gerlach, Lisa Harrod, Mary Harrod, Janice Jamison, Janet Miller, Shirley Miller, Martha Morris, Betty Jo Patterson, Veester Scott, Pat Smith, Suzanne Smith, Lisa Spurlock, Linda Sumner, Angela Wall, Mattie Wallace, Suzanne Wong; (basses) Aaron Hogan, David Nelson, Lorne Piercey, Wilson Shultz, James Wilkinson; (altos) Mary Angle, Earnese Boals, Margaret Brooks, Martha Dearing, Alice Gude, Mary Hogan, Willie L. Nelson, Alma Piercey, Rebecca Pike; (tenors) June Davidson, Willie Miller, Jasper Williams.
Directors: Linda Sumner, Shirley Miller Pianist: Bobbie Hill Narrator: Earl Jamison Sound: Kenneth Tapp, Memphis, Tenn.; AMRO Music Co., Memphis, Tenn.
Many thanks to: Raymond Dunbar, Stephen Miller, Bill Wong, Marion Wall, Mike Dunbar, Andy Sain, Jimmy Booker, Mrs. Hattie Franks.
For the song "Johnny Bull," Keith "Butch" Dunbar portrayed Johnny Ball and David Richardson portrayed a colonist.
Soloists were Linda Sumner, June Davidson, Jan Jamison, Margaret Brooks, Shirley Miller and Janet Miller.
The Centennial celebration in 1976 was a BIG deal for Holly Grove! I was a senior in high school that year. There was a program and ceremony held downtown. All the businesses decorated their windows and joined in the celebration, which included the burial of a time capsule. Lots of people took part in the ceremony. Miss Lily Peter of Marvell, Arkansas' poet laureate, was a special guest. I was part of the musical cantata presented from the porch of the depot (then the Bent Rail Restaurant). We all wore specially made vests (were they red white and blue?). I remember that it was a "big" thing, at the time, that the choir included singers of all races and folks from all churches in town. It was a special and symbolic time of unity for Holly Grove.
