We Had Friends In High Places..The State Of Tennessee

By the time the photo above was taken in the summer of 1967, Sing- Out South had enjoyed a long history of support from political leaders. In this posting, we will take an in-depth look at SOS' relationship with our leaders on the state level.

That's Governor Buford Ellington presenting to Cast Director Jill Walters (far right) a proclamation establishing August 5-11 as Sing-Out South Week in Tennessee. It was all a part of our efforts to raise public awareness (and money) so the cast could attend the World Sing-Out Festival then underway at Fort Slocum on David's Island just outside New Rochelle, New York.

Besides the Governor and Jill Walters, the others in the photo above include (from the left) Glenn Nave, Jackie Dodson, Gene Nolan, Jerry Baker and myself (Pat Nolan).

Our supportive relationship with state government actually began under Buford Ellington's predecessor, Governor Frank Clement.He was one of many civic leaders who endorsed the vist of the original Sing-Out '66 cast to Nashville in January, 1966.

That made sense for the Governor politically because the main sponsor of the Sing-Out visit was THE NASHVILLE BANNER, which had supported Clement in his previous campaigns for office.

But for Governor Clement his support of the Sing-Out movement continued well past the first visit of the national cast. On February 26, 1966 a delegation of the original Sing-Out South cast met with him in his office at the State Capitol. The next day, the Governor traveled to Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville to make a surprise introduction of Sing-Out '66, which had returned to the state to perform for a standing-room only crowd in the school's Memorial Gymnasium.

That crowd also included over 250 Sing-Out South cast members who had come up in four busloads to attend the concert. The SOS crew then joined the national cast on stage at the end of the performance for a rousing encore.

But for me, Governor Clement's most memorable involvement with Sing Out South came after he left office in the summer of 1967. He was the emcee of a show we performed at the Bandshell in Centennial Park.

This was all part of our Sing-Out South Week festivities proclaimed by Governor Ellington and we drew thousands of people, in fact one of the largest crowds I had ever seen. Former Governor Clement was renowned as an orator. And he outdid himself that evening, as the testimonial speech he gave during intermission helped fill our SOS buckets with enough money to reach the financial goal to pay for the cast to attend the World Sing-Out Festival (an estimated $3,000 to $5,000).

Sing Out South also performed at the State Capitol. In fact, as a part of the promotion for our premiere shows at Hillsboro High School, a task force of cast members performed for a Joint Session of the Tennessee General Assembly on March 23,1966 (which was the day before our premiere). Seen above, we later returned to perform an outdoor show on the steps of the State Capitol. Judging from who is in the cast on stage, this photo is likely from sometime in late 1966 or the spring of 1967.

As we close, here's another interesting governmental involvement for Sing-Out South...this one on the federal level. The very first show ever performed by Sing-Out South, with less than a week of practice, involved a small group of the cast singing before the Blue & Gold Cub Scout Banquet held at the Skychef Restaurant near the Metro Airport on February 5, 1966.

Among those present was Tennessee U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. The cast gave him an inpromptu performance, which was much to his delight, according to published reports in THE NASHVILLE BANNER. There is no word in the article if the Senator's son, Albert, Jr. the future Congressman, Senator and Vice President was there.