If you've seen my profile on my Facebook page, you've probably wondered about this little tidbit of information:
My big claim to fame is that I know Josh Turner, the country singer, personally. I was responsible for putting him on a
"big" stage for the first time. It's true! I have a magazine article to prove it!
One of my new Facebook friends picked up on it and was curious about how I came to know Josh and what led to my claim to fame. I promised her I would post about it in my blog, so here it is . . .
From 1992 through 1998, I worked for the Pee Dee Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raised money and initiated programs in the 18 rural school districts of the Pee Dee region. I can honestly say, it was the best job I ever had. I have a passion for education, and I loved taking a young organization and being given the freedom to make it grow.
The foundation didn't have a huge endowment, so I literally sang for my supper. If I didn't raise money, I didn't get paid! What I know about fundraising is that it's a lot more about friend raising than going out and asking for money. Name awareness and recognition of the organization's work is what brings the money in and keeps it coming in.
Since the day I took the job as executive director of the foundation, I had heard countless stories of a similar foundation in Raleigh that held an annual performing arts showcase called "Pieces of Gold" that raised thousands of dollars. The event was so successful that they hired someone to work on it year round.
Sometime during my second year on the job, my secretary Joanne Creel and I decided we would go to Raleigh and find out what all the fuss was about. Two weeks before the performance, we had to beg, borrow, and plead to get tickets to the event held in a 1500-seat auditorium! We finally got our tickets and we headed to Raleigh to see the big show. The hype was all true! We were blown away by the talent and professionalism of the show!
The following year, the foundation board felt we were ready to stage our own "Pieces of Gold" so, with the help of my trusty sidekick Joanne, I set about to make it happen. We found a director for the show and she recruited stage hands and other help to manage the massive number of children who would perform. We came up with a name and branding so that the show would be highly recognizable from year to year. Our show was called "H'Artfelt Expressions" and was held annually in February to tie in with Valentine's Day. Schools were contacted and asked to submit video auditions and the show's director and a panel of unbiased judges chose the 18 to 20 acts for the show.
The first show was held at the Florence Civic Center. Now, that is certainly not a venue that evokes a lot of excitement, but you need to know and recognize that the Pee Dee region is extremely rural. For most of the children who participated, singing on a celebrity-sized stage was a BIG deal. Many of those children had never traveled outside of their own home towns.
In discussing the show with the board, we wanted to do our best to include an act from every school district. But nobody auditioned from the tiny, rural school district of Hanna-Pamplico--District 3. It just so happened that my secretary, Joanne, lived in that school district, and when I asked if she thought we could get an act from th district, she said, "I know somebody!"
Joanne attends Union Baptist Church and one of the congregants there at the time was a young man named Josh Turner. Josh often sang at church functions and made no secret of the fact that his one aim in life was to go to Nashville and become a country singer. His inspiration was Randy Travis.
Joanne contacted Josh and he was more than anxious to send in his audition tape and let the judges take a look at his performance. I believe his audition song was "Diggin' Up Bones." After the judges selected the acts for the show, of course, Josh was one of them. Realizing his talent, they decided that he should be the final act just before the grand finale where more than 500 children would perform together. The audience was literally surrounded by children. Even now, when I think about it, that hairs on my arms stand up!
The selected acts were notified and the show's director verified what their performance would include to make sure it was age appropriate and suitable for our goal of recognizing the talent from the schools in the Pee Dee. Josh was still undecided about what he wanted to sing . . . "Miz Maaarrrtha, what about 'Diggin' Up Bones'?"
Well, for some reason, I just didn't want "Diggin' Up Bones" to be the last song of the evening, so I pondered on it a while and asked Josh if he would mind singing "Thank God for Kids." The seventeen-year-old boy sort of scrunched up his face, made a little groaning noise, and offered another suggestion. I promised Josh that if he would end the show with my selection that he could sing whatever he wanted to the following year. So he obliged.
The night of the show came and it was mass chaos! I was a nervous wreck about all the little details, but nevertheless, I had done my part to make it happen and the show was going on whether I was ready or not. It was time to take my place on the stage to introduce the show and then I would be banished to the audience to worry about whether everything was going okay backstage.
There were a few little glitches, but most of the acts were wonderful! I kept looking around at the audience and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. At least nobody left at intermission!
It was finally time for Josh to go on. True to form, he was dressed in jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat with his guitar in tow. Josh took the stage like a pro and squinted a little at the spot lights. The orchestra looked at Josh for their cue, and the star in him came out!
If it weren't for kids, have you ever thought there wouldn't be no Santa Claus or look what the stork just brought?
Thank God for kids!
And we don't live in a quiet house without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse and Kool-Aid on the couch.
Thank God for kids!
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while; a special kind of sunshine in a smile.
If you ever stop to think or wonder why--the nearest thing to Heaven is a child . . .
I was so glad I'd been able to talk Josh into singing that song! It was even better than I'd imagined! All eyes were on him, and everybody in the audience knew this guy was something special! His rendition of the song was exceptional!
Just when I thought I couldn't be wowed any more, Josh wound up for the ending of the song . . . he reached up and took off his hat, held it over his heart, and dropped to one knee . . .
When you get down on your knees at night and thank the Lord for His guiding light and pray they'll turn out right.
Thank God for kids! Oooh-ooh . . .
And then in that deep, bass voice that has now become so famous, Josh spoke the final phrase--Thank God for kids!
People! The house came down! The audience was on its feet, applauding and cheering! For me, it was one of those mountaintop moments!
Josh performed in "H'Artfelt Expressions" the next year, and everyone involved with the foundation was predicting his fame. He graduated from high school and I knew that he was going to school in Tennessee and ultimately, he planned to go to Nashville to pursue his dream. But after that, I changed jobs and sort of lost track.
Several years later, I was headed down I-20 after a long day in Columbia. I was scanning radio stations somewhere around the Bishopville exit and stopped searching for a station when I heard a familiar voice come across the car speakers . . . I knew that voice! It wasn't anybody I'd heard sing on the radio before because at the time, I was not a big fan of country music.
I listened to the song and kept wracking my brain to try and remember where I had heard that voice. When the song ended, the announcer from WEGX-92.9 said, "That was Josh Turner from Hanna, South Carolina with his new, top-10 single, Long, Black Train!"
Woo-hoo! Josh had made it to Nashville! I was prouder than a peacock! And whenever I'm with somebody and one of his songs comes on the radio, I can't help but say: "I know him, you know?"
My big claim to fame is that I know Josh Turner, the country singer, personally. I was responsible for putting him on a
"big" stage for the first time. It's true! I have a magazine article to prove it!
One of my new Facebook friends picked up on it and was curious about how I came to know Josh and what led to my claim to fame. I promised her I would post about it in my blog, so here it is . . .
From 1992 through 1998, I worked for the Pee Dee Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raised money and initiated programs in the 18 rural school districts of the Pee Dee region. I can honestly say, it was the best job I ever had. I have a passion for education, and I loved taking a young organization and being given the freedom to make it grow.
The foundation didn't have a huge endowment, so I literally sang for my supper. If I didn't raise money, I didn't get paid! What I know about fundraising is that it's a lot more about friend raising than going out and asking for money. Name awareness and recognition of the organization's work is what brings the money in and keeps it coming in.
Since the day I took the job as executive director of the foundation, I had heard countless stories of a similar foundation in Raleigh that held an annual performing arts showcase called "Pieces of Gold" that raised thousands of dollars. The event was so successful that they hired someone to work on it year round.
Sometime during my second year on the job, my secretary Joanne Creel and I decided we would go to Raleigh and find out what all the fuss was about. Two weeks before the performance, we had to beg, borrow, and plead to get tickets to the event held in a 1500-seat auditorium! We finally got our tickets and we headed to Raleigh to see the big show. The hype was all true! We were blown away by the talent and professionalism of the show!
The following year, the foundation board felt we were ready to stage our own "Pieces of Gold" so, with the help of my trusty sidekick Joanne, I set about to make it happen. We found a director for the show and she recruited stage hands and other help to manage the massive number of children who would perform. We came up with a name and branding so that the show would be highly recognizable from year to year. Our show was called "H'Artfelt Expressions" and was held annually in February to tie in with Valentine's Day. Schools were contacted and asked to submit video auditions and the show's director and a panel of unbiased judges chose the 18 to 20 acts for the show.
The first show was held at the Florence Civic Center. Now, that is certainly not a venue that evokes a lot of excitement, but you need to know and recognize that the Pee Dee region is extremely rural. For most of the children who participated, singing on a celebrity-sized stage was a BIG deal. Many of those children had never traveled outside of their own home towns.
In discussing the show with the board, we wanted to do our best to include an act from every school district. But nobody auditioned from the tiny, rural school district of Hanna-Pamplico--District 3. It just so happened that my secretary, Joanne, lived in that school district, and when I asked if she thought we could get an act from th district, she said, "I know somebody!"
Joanne attends Union Baptist Church and one of the congregants there at the time was a young man named Josh Turner. Josh often sang at church functions and made no secret of the fact that his one aim in life was to go to Nashville and become a country singer. His inspiration was Randy Travis.
Joanne contacted Josh and he was more than anxious to send in his audition tape and let the judges take a look at his performance. I believe his audition song was "Diggin' Up Bones." After the judges selected the acts for the show, of course, Josh was one of them. Realizing his talent, they decided that he should be the final act just before the grand finale where more than 500 children would perform together. The audience was literally surrounded by children. Even now, when I think about it, that hairs on my arms stand up!
The selected acts were notified and the show's director verified what their performance would include to make sure it was age appropriate and suitable for our goal of recognizing the talent from the schools in the Pee Dee. Josh was still undecided about what he wanted to sing . . . "Miz Maaarrrtha, what about 'Diggin' Up Bones'?"
Well, for some reason, I just didn't want "Diggin' Up Bones" to be the last song of the evening, so I pondered on it a while and asked Josh if he would mind singing "Thank God for Kids." The seventeen-year-old boy sort of scrunched up his face, made a little groaning noise, and offered another suggestion. I promised Josh that if he would end the show with my selection that he could sing whatever he wanted to the following year. So he obliged.
The night of the show came and it was mass chaos! I was a nervous wreck about all the little details, but nevertheless, I had done my part to make it happen and the show was going on whether I was ready or not. It was time to take my place on the stage to introduce the show and then I would be banished to the audience to worry about whether everything was going okay backstage.
There were a few little glitches, but most of the acts were wonderful! I kept looking around at the audience and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. At least nobody left at intermission!
It was finally time for Josh to go on. True to form, he was dressed in jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat with his guitar in tow. Josh took the stage like a pro and squinted a little at the spot lights. The orchestra looked at Josh for their cue, and the star in him came out!
If it weren't for kids, have you ever thought there wouldn't be no Santa Claus or look what the stork just brought?
Thank God for kids!
And we don't live in a quiet house without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse and Kool-Aid on the couch.
Thank God for kids!
Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while; a special kind of sunshine in a smile.
If you ever stop to think or wonder why--the nearest thing to Heaven is a child . . .
I was so glad I'd been able to talk Josh into singing that song! It was even better than I'd imagined! All eyes were on him, and everybody in the audience knew this guy was something special! His rendition of the song was exceptional!
Just when I thought I couldn't be wowed any more, Josh wound up for the ending of the song . . . he reached up and took off his hat, held it over his heart, and dropped to one knee . . .
When you get down on your knees at night and thank the Lord for His guiding light and pray they'll turn out right.
Thank God for kids! Oooh-ooh . . .
And then in that deep, bass voice that has now become so famous, Josh spoke the final phrase--Thank God for kids!
People! The house came down! The audience was on its feet, applauding and cheering! For me, it was one of those mountaintop moments!
Josh performed in "H'Artfelt Expressions" the next year, and everyone involved with the foundation was predicting his fame. He graduated from high school and I knew that he was going to school in Tennessee and ultimately, he planned to go to Nashville to pursue his dream. But after that, I changed jobs and sort of lost track.
Several years later, I was headed down I-20 after a long day in Columbia. I was scanning radio stations somewhere around the Bishopville exit and stopped searching for a station when I heard a familiar voice come across the car speakers . . . I knew that voice! It wasn't anybody I'd heard sing on the radio before because at the time, I was not a big fan of country music.
I listened to the song and kept wracking my brain to try and remember where I had heard that voice. When the song ended, the announcer from WEGX-92.9 said, "That was Josh Turner from Hanna, South Carolina with his new, top-10 single, Long, Black Train!"
Woo-hoo! Josh had made it to Nashville! I was prouder than a peacock! And whenever I'm with somebody and one of his songs comes on the radio, I can't help but say: "I know him, you know?"
