Opinion
Mississippi Entertainer's Birthright
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It has been at least twenty years since the idea of a Mississippi Entertainment Hall of Fame Museum originated. In the meantime, Tennessee has cashed in on Mississippi-born Elvis Presley, and the rest of the nation does not know that our state leads the other forty-nine states, per capita, of state-born famous entertainers. No, Jimmy Buffett was not born in Alabama. Britney Spears was not born in Louisiana. The list goes on and on. Well, that misconception may be over as the Entertainment Hall of Fame, not only has a home base, but, finally, as of July, a site to build the state-of-the art museum for the likes of Morgan Freeman, Faith Hill, John Grisham, Kermit the Frog and too many more to mention in this article. While it has been nine years since the State of Mississippi designated Meridian, Mississippi the home site for the honor, many museums have been completed in the state—all well deserved. But, none more than the great media blitz the inductions will get each year in Meridian for our great state. We owe so many thanks to the tremendous effort of so many people to finally bring this to a reality. But, there is no one more deserving of our thanks than our board member, Mississippi-born Fred Cannon. He is now Senior Vice President of BMI in New York. He instigated the Entertainment Walk of Fame in Meridian last year. Since then, we have honored Stars on the sidewalk such as Jimmie Rodgers, Father of Country Music, B.B. King, Williams Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Sela Ward and just recently, the great Mississippi entertainer, Marty Stuart. (We hope he will now take the lead in this awesome project.) He already has stunned the state with his personal, unbelievable memorabilia collection, “Sparkle and Twang,” in Tupelo and now in Meridian at the Riley Performing Arts Center in July. Hold on to your seats, folks, “showtime” is coming to Mississippi soon in Meridian—birthplace of the Father of Music—the “Singing Brakeman,” Jimmie Rodgers. Twenty years in the making! Check out the website www.msarts.org.]]]]> ]]>
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