Jim Reeves, the perfect gentleman, was one of our biggest stars at Verona Lake Ranch. We became friends, and I was honored in 1972 to receive “The Jim Reeves International Award” from the Academy of Country Music, presented to me by Ms. Frances Preston, BMI Executive, at the John Wayne Theatre in Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, California.

 

Frances Preston and Thurston Moore. 

We had ice-skating parties in the winter at the park, and for a while we had Bingo at noon on Sundays. We sponsored teenage dances on the stage on Friday nights. This outgrew the stage, so we made a deal with the Walton Skating Rink, five miles away. The dancing started there at 7 p.m. and was a big success. They played records, as they did for skating, and artists like Elvis, Chubby Checker, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis were favorites with the kids.

There were three fishing lakes, and fishing during the week cost $1 a day. On Sundays, it was $1.50. We started publishing a newspaper, Verona Lake RanchNews, in 1957, and it was mailed to thousands of folks in the tri-state area. It covered country news of the area, goings-on at the park, and a schedule of shows. In one issue there was this article: “3½ Pound Bass Caught April 22. That’s a big bass to any fisherman and it was caught by the retired mail carrier in Verona. And of all things, he caught it with a cane pole and a fishing worm!”

 

The pony rides were run by my daughter, Tracy, who was an excellent rider. We also had several games-of-chance, such as “Break the Records” and “Knock Over the Bottles.” The Police Chief of Walton brought in a little kiddie Merry-Go-Round, which he operated on Sundays. He loved being with the children. We became good friends, and he had an actual ball-and-chain from the Georgia chain gang. I can’t recall the story of how he got it, but he presented it to me as a gift. I put it to great use in a film I made in later years, and now our son, Marc, has it in his home in Colorado.

Each year we had “County Day” shows, like “Kenton County Day,” and advertised for contestants to enter the “Beauty Contest.” Young ladies, 18 and over and residents of the county were eligible. The winners received a trophy and a bouquet of roses.

  An impressive fireworks display was a highlight on Memorial Day, the official opening each year, and also on the Fourth of July and Labor Day. These were set off on the far side of the lake from the park grounds, and they made a beautiful reflection in the lake. Many people came to the park after the shows and paid the entrance fee just to see the fireworks. My best friend, Earl Hensley, helped me set off the fireworks.

  A historical event on August 17-18, 1957, was the state of Kentucky’s first annual “Kentucky Pioneers Engineers Club.” We had participants from several states who brought antique steam engines and threshers, all in running condition, parading the grounds. There was also an ox team and covered wagon, antique autos, Indian relics, antique guns and other contraptions from bygone days. On Saturday night and Sunday there was a square dance with a big show.

 

On July 4, 1958, we had a special attraction: “Fearless Ted and His Wrestling Bear.” That bear didn’t fool around when he started hugging his wrestling partner. As part of the show, the bear ate honey off Fearless Ted’s throat while he laid on his back. Ugh!

One of the biggest shows we had was sponsored by The Royal Furniture Company in Cincinnati. We booked major stars, who were paid by The Royal Furniture Company, and admission to the park was free that day. I’m not sure how many folks came out, but some newspaper accounts said it was 10,000! Another big show was the day we advertised park entrance at $1 per vehicle, with no limit on the number of passengers. Well, you can imagine the cars coming in with legs sticking out, and we stopped counting the people that piled out of a big truck – they brought half the county! That was a fun day and we had about 4,000 people. On days like that, we made big money at the concession stands.

A big flop we had at the park was the BEAN DINNER, and I am happy to say it wasn’t my idea. A music promoter came to the park one day and told me how he could draw more people with some wild ideas. He had no money, and we felt sorry for him and said he could bring his old trailer to the park. Then we found out he had a wife and a child.

The first thing he wanted to do was to go to Alabama, where he knew he could get a carnival ride very cheap. I gave him money, and that was my first mistake. That ride was similar to a huge Ferris Wheel, but the enclosures people got into not only went around but upside down! Consequently, things were falling out of their pockets. It was like the song “Pennies from Heaven.” We sent that back to Alabama!

Then his next idea – and thankfully the last – was to have a BEAN DINNER. He said he knew of parks and events that did this, and hundreds of people came to eat beans. That was hard to believe, but we went along with the idea since it cost very little. We had a big advertising campaign for the BEAN DINNER, which was held at noon on a Saturday: “All you can eat for 50 cents.” My good friend Earl was my “assistant chef,” and we cooked beans all night over open fires in huge iron kettles we had borrowed − we had enough beans to feed an army! The bottom line is it was a major flop – only a handful of people came to eat our beans. We dug holes in the picnic area and buried the beans; they are probably still growing!

 

A more successful and fun event while we were living in Verona was VERONA VARIETIES, a stage show I produced and directed in 1958 at the Walton High School, presented by the Verona Community Club. The Walton Advertiser carried a full page listing the program, surrounded by more than 50 advertisers who supported the show.

VERONA VARIETIES 

ACT I

Scene 1 - Walton-Verona Court of Nonsense 

“Buddy” Rouse played the judge.

Scene 2 - It’s In the Book by Arthur Doggett

Scene 3 - The Great American Drama
Featured actors included Edna Beach, Georgianna Moore, Marc Moore (our son), Evelyn Ross, fiddler Joe Louderback, and the voice of Jack Conner.

Scene 4 - Albert and the Lion by Ian Atherton
Ian and his family had come to American from England a few years before, and they came to the part for several years, picnicked and enjoyed the shows. One year we missed them, and soon learned that Ian had been killed in an auto crash.

 

Scene 5 - Dance-O-RamaFeatured Georgianna and our daughter Tracy, and seven other dancers.

Scene 6 - A Pantomime by Rev.George Fiske
Piano by Mrs. Fiske

ACT II

Plantation Melodies Songs by Stephen Collins Foster
Featured Georgianna Moore, Guy Carlisle, Arthur Doggett and an all-star cast. 

 

Don’t miss the next chapter: To Tell the Truth

There were many acres of parking at Verona Lake Ranch, and our faithful parking attendant was “Peanuts” Washum, a small man who lived across the road from the park. He helped Tracy and Marc, our two children, clean up the park on Mondays as well. We had bumper stickers printed, and Peanuts always asked if he could put them on the car’s rear bumper. Most folks were glad to promote the park. Periodically we checked license plates to see where the folks came from − it was about 50 percent Ohio, 40 percent Kentucky, and 10 percent Indiana. And every week there were cars from other states as well, people who had heard about the park or saw posters.

We had a 19th-century buggy on top of the ticket booth, and for a time we had Kentucky’s last hangman’s scaffold on display. I don’t know who sold me on that, and I was sorry after it was there. I don’t remember where it came from or where it went when we got rid of it.

In the four years we operated Verona Lake Ranch (1956-1959), we had many special events in addition to the regulars shows. The stars we had on stage read like a “Who’s Who in Country Music.” To name a few not already mentioned: Stanley Brothers; Ferlin Husky; “Jumpin’” Bill Carlisle; George Jones; Kitty Wells and Johnnie and Jack; Carl Smith; Billy Grammer; Don Gibson; Wally Fowler’s Gospel Show; Wilburn Brothers; Grandpa Jones; Lonzo and Oscar; and Skeeter Davis.

 

  

Thurston looks on as Ferlin Husky signs autographs for employees. 

Our three-piece house band consisted of fiddler Billy Thomas, who also played the banjo, his wife on the double bass, and Joe Elliott who was a fine guitarist in the style of Chet Atkins. Every week he got requests to play “Poor People of Paris,” Chet’s big hit.

Georgianna was a major draw to the park, too. A newspaper article in the spring of 1957, wrote, “The shows were hosted by Miss Georgie, whose amiable personality, cutting up and dances made her a favorite with thousands of folks.” Miss Georgie, as everyone called her, had many put-on skirmishes with Billy, and the audience never knew what to expect next. 

 

Billy Thomas and Georgianna. 

Their biggest show-stopper was one Sunday when Billy was chasing her around the stage. He finally caught up with her, grabbed her in his arms and headed for the lake. The audience was going wild and thought, surely he’snot going to throw her in the lake! Hundreds left their seats and followed them cheering. Yes, you guessed it! Billy did throw her in the lake, clothes and all. That was not rehearsed; the audience loved it, and Miss Georgie was more popular than ever.

It was a privilege to present “John Lair’s Renfro Valley Gang” from Renfro Valley, Kentucky. That show first began in the mind of John Lair in Chicago in the 1930s. He was listening to the WLS Barn Dance on the radio and was homesick for Renfro Valley. With the help of hillbilly super star, Red Foley, his show first opened in Cincinnati in 1937 on Radio Station WLW. And on November 4, 1939, the doors swung open in the Old Barn, and the WLW announcer was heard to say, “And now friends, by way of the magic carpet of radio, we take you to the big Old Barn in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, with John Lair and the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.” The Renfro Valley Entertainment Center continues with excitement week after week.

 

John Lair, founder of Renfro Valley Barn Dance. 

 

Coon Creek Girls, regulars on the National Barn Dance and the Renfro Valley Barn Dance. 

Another artist Georgianna had a tiff with was Stonewall Jackson, who didn’t draw a large crowd. He had a big hit at the time, “Waterloo,” and when Georgianna introduced the song, it got mild applause, and he walked off the stage. Georgianna went backstage and he told her, “I am not going out there.” She told him he was going to sing that song and finish his show or he would not be paid. He performed. We became friends in later years when he became a Grand Ole Opry star.

Little Jimmie Dickens, one of my favorite people in country music, was at the park when it rained most of the day and we didn’t have many people. It was evident to Jimmie and his manager that I would lose money that day. I think Jimmie’s fee was $650.00. After the third show, I went to pay him and Jimmie said, “Thurston, I know you didn’t do well at all today, and we’re cutting our fee to help you.” I told him that wasn’t necessary, that we had a contract. But they insisted; I do not remember what he was paid, but in four years he was the only star that ever offered help when I lost money or barely broke even.

 

Little Jimmie Dickens and Thurston. 

Jimmie was an advertiser in my “Who’s Who” publications. I never had contracts with the artists because I trusted them and considered them friends. I would send an invoice after the book was published and they paid; all except Jimmie and one other. I didn’t worry about it, because whenever I saw Jimmie, he would put his hand behind my back and slip a $100 bill to me. I got paid in Nashville and other cities where we ran into each other. We never said anything, and he knew I would keep track and tell him when he was paid up.

Another interesting artist − who also had an interesting method for paying for ads − was “Stringbean,” who was a major comedian on The Grand Ole Opry for many years. For his act, he always wore bib overalls. (I wondered if he ever wore anything else.)

 

Stringbean.

He kept $100 bills in the top pocket of his overalls and knew what he owed me. When I went to Nashville and backstage at the Ryman, he would slip out a $100 bill and hand it to me; nothing ever said. Like everyone, I loved String. He was a ray of sunshine wherever he was.

The most fun − or maybe I should say hilarious − luncheon I had in all my years was when I was attending a taping of the popular TV show, Hee Haw, which ran from 1969 to 1971, and then for 20 years in local syndication. I had lunch with three of the funniest people in show business: Stringbean, Archie Campbell, and Jr. Samples! I don’t think I ever knew what I was eating.

On a Saturday night in late 1973, Stringbean and his wife returned home after a performance on the Opry, and both were shot dead. Their bodies were found the next morning by their neighbor, “Grandpa” Jones. 

Don’t miss the next chapter: Verona Varieties

The year 1955 was busy with publications when we purchased Verona Lake Ranch, and we soon found ourselves working overtime seven days a week, with plans for the park’s opening in 1956, thinking about concession stands and improvements. I was shuttling back and forth from the house to the office in Cincinnati and to the park. We sold the Blue House in early 1956, bought a nice trailer and moved to the park.

At the time, Verona had a population of between 400 and 500. Some Sundays, though, it swelled to 10,000! The only people we knew in Verona were the Scroggins, the bank president, and Marie, the bank clerk, whom we’d met when we signed the papers for the loan. I remember very few businesses in addition to the bank, namely the funeral home, grocery store, auto garage, small general store with the post office in the rear, and the elementary school, which bordered the park. So Georgianna and I made a visit to each of these places to introduce ourselves, and everyone was delighted to hear about our plans to put Verona on the map. We were quite interested in learning the history of Verona.

 

Thousands of visitors at Verona Lake Ranch 

Set on a high ridge in the Eden Shale hills of southern Boone County, Verona was established in the mid-19th century and became a post office in 1850. One of its first institutions was the New Bethel Baptist Church, formed in 1840.

During the 1850s, Verona became the center of the largest Irish community in Boone County. Irish immigrants first arrived in the county in 1850, no doubt because of the famine that devastated Ireland in the 1840s. The first to arrive came to work on the farm of a Mr. Hudson near Richwood. By the 1880s, many Irish families had settled in the town and the surrounding countryside. Skilled Irish craftsmen may have constructed many of the distinctive stone cellars found on Verona area farms, as well as the stone fences once prominent along southern county turnpikes.

The heart of the Irish community was St. Patrick's Catholic Church, founded in 1850. Although the parish eventually merged with All Saints in Walton, the building still stands, in much-altered form.

 

By 1879, Verona had 175 residents. Its business district included saw and flour mills, a hardware store, a millinery shop and, in the 1900s, a bank. In the uplands and bottomlands of Verona Precinct, farmers raised livestock and tobacco.

One of the most important institutions of early 20th century in Verona was the Verona High School, which opened in 1914. The school served not only local students but children from counties to the south, who rode the train to attend classes.

By the late 20th century, Verona’s commercial importance diminished. Nonetheless, many of its original residences still stand, and relative isolation has preserved a number of the outlying farms.

The Scroggins lived in the most prominent home in the area, just down the state road from the park. It was a beautiful home, with white columns and a driveway along the lines of a Southern plantation home. After meeting “Bill,” we were taken back a little when we first met his wife, Edna, a charming woman who was certainly the queen of whatever society functions abounded in the area. They were as different as night and day. We had pleasant visits with Mrs. Scroggins. She served tea and enjoyed hearing about our show business and music backgrounds. We found out she liked classical music and ballet but had never seen a ballet. Our daughter, Tracy, who was 9 when we bought the ranch, studied ballet, and sometimes she and Georgianna would visit Mrs. Scroggins for tea, and Tracy would dance for her.

I went to Nashville soon after the park purchase and visited with some of the artists and two of my good friends, who were talent bookers and managers, “Lucky” Moeller and Hubert Long, to discuss acts for the 1956 season. Of course, everyone was delighted about my new venture and pledged their support. I met with Ernest Tubb, one of the top stars of the Opry, and we made a deal whereas he and his band would play our opening Memorial Day show each season, for a fee of $1,000. I met with my good friend Hank Snow, whom I admired and always made a point to spend time with in his dressing room backstage at the Opry in the old days at the Ryman Auditorium. I think he and his band played Verona almost every year, and he, too, was paid $1,000. We had three shows each Sunday, 1PM, 3PM and 6PM. For regular shows we charged 75 cents, children under 10 were free.

 

Ernest Tubb 

The highest paid star I had was Webb Pierce, for the 4th of July show in 1956; we paid him $1,250, and he brought “Red” Sovine with him, a singer who was associated with truck driving songs, including his No. 1 hit, “Teddy Bear,” in 1976. In later years, Red’s son, Roger, ran my Nashville office.

 

Webb Pierce 

Pierce was a major star in the 1950s with his honky tonk songs. In the 1965 edition of my coveted Country Music Who’s Who, he was the largest advertiser, with a three-page open-out sheet, the first page proclaiming, “The only artist to receive Four Triple Crown Awards.”

Pierce was a hard drinker and became known for his excessive lifestyle, having had Hollywood tailor Nudie Cohen (he was known as “Nudie” in the country and western trade) make him flamboyant suits and line two convertibles with silver dollars. Nudie drove a special custom-made Pontiac that had steer horns on the front, actual 45-revolver door handles, cowhide covering on the seats, etc., and on my trips to Hollywood, I always stopped at Nudie’s store on Lankershim Boulevard and visited with him and his wife, Bobbie.

 

Webb Pierce in his convertible lined with silver dollars. 

Nudie started out making undergarments for show girls, and on one of my visits, he said, “C’mon, I have to go over town.” I followed him out the back door, and there was his famous car. Sitting in that lavishly decorated Pontiac convertible, I felt like a potentate and thought I should be bowing to the crowds every time we stopped; that was a fun ride.

Another time in his store, I noticed a young man browsing through the racks of clothes, and suddenly realized it was Audie Murphy, the western film star who was the most decorated war hero of World War II. I introduced myself and told him how much I enjoyed his movies. He was a modest, very polite gentleman, and I was honored to shake his hand. The Willie Nelson Museum in Nashville contains Audie Murphy memorabilia. I suppose if you wanted to meet the “who’s who” of the county/western film world, you only had to spend time in Nudie’s. He made clothes for a long list of famous names, from John Wayne to Hank Williams. He even made the $10,000 gold lame´ suit for Elvis.

 

Audie Murphy featured on the cover of Life Magazine. 

 

Audie Murphy 

Webb Pierce’s home in Nashville was close to the Tennessee Governor’s mansion and Minnie Pearl’s home, and he had a $30,000 guitar-shaped swimming pool. His home was a favorite on the route of the tour buses for years.

 

Well, Georgianna never forgot Pierce’s Verona visit. He had smuggled a lady from the audience into his dressing room, and when Georgianna later found out about it, she went up to Pierce (who was at least 6 inches taller than her), grabbed him by the collar and threatened to throw him off the stage if he did that again!

There was an article in the Cincinnati paper the following day that reported, “Most of the parks in the area were closed over the 4th of July, due to the heavy rains. … At Verona Lake Ranch, where Webb Piece appeared, the crowds were reported as very good even though rains interrupted the show.”

Other stars that first year included The Porter Wagoner Trio, Homer and Jethro, the legendary Lulu Belle and Scotty from the WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow and His Rainbow Ranch Boys, Carl Smith, Faron Young and Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash was there August 5, 1956, with the Tennessee Two, Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant. His records were just beginning to get national attention, and he wasn’t a big name as yet. His fee for the three shows was only $750. He got to the park early and walked around, no one noticing him. He came up to the concession stand where I was and asked if I had a fishing pole. Marc, our son, loaned him his pole, and Cash went fishing before the show!

 

Like most of our seasons, we had many rainy Sundays. Every time it rained and kept the folks away, I always thought about what Scroggins had said about “hardly ever getting rained out.”

Here are statistics for the first season:

• Attendance: 25,390 adults
• Souvenirs: $738.37
• Pony rides and games: $1,047.72
• Popcorn: 4,000 boxes
• Snow Cones: 6,000
• Cotton Candy: 1,084
• Soft Drinks: 39,216
• Hot Dogs: 6,020
• Hamburgers: 4,110
• Coffee: 4,300 cups
• Bottles of milk: 1,847
• Potatoes: 600 pounds
• Shortening: 250 pounds

Don’t miss the next chapter: “Miss Georgie”

 

In the 1950s, we were living at the “Blue House,” so called because we painted it blue shortly after we bought it in 1950. The house was located on three acres, with a running creek, situated about halfway between Covington and Visalia, where I was born. Finally, the publisher of country publications lived in the country.

“Red” Turner, a country musician, lived next door; he was a regular on the country shows over Radio Station WLW, Cincinnati, Ohio. And only a short distance away lived Skeeter Davis, who, with Betty Jack Davis, were billed as the Davis Sisters (although they were no relation at all), and they had a big hit in 1953 with their recording of “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know.”

 In August of that year, they were in an auto accident and Betty Jack was killed. (Skeeter Davis went on to a successful solo career and became a regular on The Grand Ole Opry until her death in 2004.) Shortly after Betty Jack’s funeral, I gave Georgianna the difficult assignment of visiting Skeeter and getting an interview for the first issue of our new magazine, Hoedown, dated September, 1953.

 

The Davis Sisters 

The Jimmie Skinner Record Shop in Cincinnati was a major source for records for many years for country fans, and they sold all my books in the shop as well as mail order. They advertised “the largest selection of bluegrass and sacred records in the world.” Jimmie Skinner was a major country/bluegrass recording artist. He and his partner, Ray Lunsford, who played a unique electric mandolin, were very popular artists in the greater Cincinnati area and toured nearby states. The shop was located a short walk from our Cincinnati office, so I spent much time in the shop visiting with Jimmie and his manager, Lou Epstein. We were very good friends and many times had lunch at our favorite chili parlor, The Empress, famous for their Cincinnati chili.

 

Jimmie Skinner 

In 1955, Brenda Lee, who later became a major star on The GrandOle Opry, sang on Jimmie’s Saturday morning radio shows at the record shop, broadcast over WNOP, a Newport, Kentucky, station. She was 11 at the time, and she was so little that she had to stand on a wooden crate.

 

Brenda Lee with Elvis 

One day in 1955, Jimmie said to me, “Thurston, Lou and I want to come to your house and visit with you.” They had never done this before, and I wondered why the visit then. Well, it was a beginning of a big chapter in our lives. 

When they got to my house, Lou quickly got to the reason for the visit. He asked me, “Are you familiar with the 80-acre hillbilly park, Verona Lake Ranch, over in Verona?” I knew very little about it, and told him so. Then he went on to tell me about this park, owned by a “Bill” Scroggins, the three fishing lakes, and the fact that the park presented hillbilly shows every Sunday in the summer. He said they featured talent from around the greater Cincinnati area, and whenever Jimmie and Ray were in town, they played there. Verona was about 25 miles from our home.

Then he got to the point: Verona Lake Ranch was for sale and he and Jimmie thought I would be greatly interested since I had become a “name” in the country music business and had contacts in Nashville, whereby we could bring in big names from The Grand Ole Opry to appear at the park.

 

Verona Lake Ranch 

Well, as Georgianna always told the kids in the books she wrote, “If you don’t go forward, you won’t go anywhere.” So naturally I was intriqued, and Georgianna and I looked at each other questioningly. Eleven years of marriage had passed, and she was always by my side, always ready for new adventures or another move to another city or state. We had Lou set up an appointment for us to go to Verona. I realized Lou didn’t want to lose this source of summer income for Jimmie and Ray, and he knew if we bought it they would play there as long as we owned the park.

 

Ray Lunsford 

On the day of our summit meeting, Georgianna and I got there early, along with Lou and Jimmie, to look around. It had a great stage with a couple of dressing rooms in the back, amphitheatre seats of old railroad ties (which worked perfectly for an outdoor amphitheater), a beautiful wooded picnic area, outdoor privies, a large barn, and a small building.

We were on the stage when “Bill” Scroggins, a self-styled banjo player, jumped out of his Jeep and came down to the stage. Here was a character, old work clothes, long white sideburns, cowboy hat, looking like he just stepped out of the set of a cowboy movie. He had a trick horse that had performed at the park in prior years. He was very personable (of course, he wanted to make a sale),  and we liked him right off. He made over Georgianna, and she knew how to play back to him so they got along great.

We heard all about the park, how he had operated it for years, and I never forgot that he stressed that they were very seldom rained out. Boy! Those words came back to haunt us many Sundays. He told us about the “tobacco base” – it was actually classified as a farm, and he said the tobacco (which was planted and cured in the big barn by Calvin Sturgeon, the caretaker who lived in a trailer by the barn) more than paid for the annual taxes.

Bill said it was important to have a good  MC who could really reach out to the rural folks that came to the park so they would think of the  MC as their friend. I looked at Gergianna and said, “Well, I’ve got the greatest  MC in the world, and here she is!”

Georgianna laughed and said, “I think it would be fun, but someone will have to tell me who the stars are that I am introducing. You know, my favorite singers are Elvis and Nat King Cole!”

 

Georgianna 

Georgianna was beautiful and had been in many shows, acting and dancing, and I knew everyone would love her, especially the men. How little did I know then that she would have a great following with the old farmers, many who came as regulars to sit on the front rows just to see “Georgie” and get a kiss. And when she did some of her dances, like the “hula” and the 1920s shimmy in her fringe dress, they had a hard time staying in their seats.

 

Georgianna dancing on the hula stage at Verona Lake Ranch. 

In the 1930s and ’40s, there were several hundred so-called “hillbilly parks” in the United States, more in Pennsylvania than any other state, many of them built on the same sites as the “brush arbor” revivals or tent Chautauqua gatherings, the medicine shows and outdoor jamborees that started in rural areas in the 19th century. These soon evolved into venues for professional traveling musicians.  

During the early years of the twentieth century, traveling Chautauqua programs entertained small-town and rural areas with culture and intellectual thought, music, and performers like the master magician Howard Thurston (my namesake) and Nashville’s Fisk Jubilee Singers. Booker T. Washington and Carrie Nation were favorites, too. I used to tease Georgianna about creating a one-woman show: “Carrie Nation, the Hatchet Lady.” Teddy Roosevelt said of Chautauqua that it was “the most American thing in America.”

 

In 1932, Dr. Hauer's medicine show, which toured the Southern Appalachian region, hired Roy Acuff as one of its entertainers. The purpose of the entertainers was to draw a large crowd to whom Hauer could sell medicines (of suspect quality) for various ailments. Acuff was one of the many famous stars of The Grand Ole Opry that we brought to Verona Lake Ranch.

 

Roy Acuff 

By the start of the depression, farmers, who were fans of the hillbilly music, started building outdoor stages to present the stars of radio and the cowboys of the silver screen. They filled out the bill with beauty contests, political rallies, carnival variety acts, turkey shoots, and much more. The music parks thrived based on an ingenious blend of the camp meeting and the county fair, the variety show and square dances. I guess those things were running through my mind as I pondered what to do. I knew the parks were disappearing, but I knew of some very successful ones and thought, Why can’t we have the most successful outdoor country music park in the country? 

I could see the potential of turning this small operation into a major park, primarily because it had the right location to pull people throughout Kentucky, southern Indiana and Ohio. When “Bill” told us the price was $20,000, I looked at Georgianna, and she smiled. With her wonderful imagination of turning winter into a beautiful spring and summer, she said, “I like it, let’s buy it.” I also knew it would take a lot of money for new construction, and I said, “If we can get a loan for $18,000, we’ll buy it.” “Bill” assured me that the Verona Bank – a relic from Jesse James days – would make the loan. They did, and in a few days we were the proprietors of Verona Lake Ranch.

 

Verona Lake Ranch bumper sticker. 

Don’t miss the next chapter: Verona Lake Ranch – Country Music Park.