Country music is alive and well in Jones County as is evidenced by The Old Clinton Opry, celebrating its first anniversary this week. Friday night marks a year since the local country music show opened, and attendance has grown steadily. The first entertainer to perform at the opry, J.L. Holt, will open the anniversary program, and owner Paul Moncrief and other regulars will join him for the first hour.
Moncrief is the originator of the opry which is held in a renovated truck shop on Old Highway 18 in Clinton. Before the October 15 show begins, he is inviting the audience to arrive at 5:30 p.m. and bring a dish and a jug of tea for a covered dinner on the grounds.
“It will be a real festive event,” Moncrief commented. “The success of the opry has made me proud of what has happened in Jones County.
On any given Friday, the event brings in 200 people from Middle Georgia. The largest crowd Moncrief has documented is 252. The performers are not paid, and there is never a charge to come to the Old Clinton Opry to hear country music. Moncrief does, however, pass around a bucket for donations one time during each program do help pay for expenses.
“The entertainers do this because they love to perform,” he said. “I don’t have any trouble finding people and groups to perform and generally stay booked 90-120 days in advance.”
In addition to the donations, the weekly shows have a concession stand, which sells soft drinks and snacks, and raffle tickets are sold.
Moncrief said so far the money coming in is just enough to pay the bills.
“We won’t ever make money, but we didn’t set out to make money,” he remarked.
The idea for the music hall came about from Moncrief’s association with a similar facility in Powersville for the past several years. The Old Clinton Opry began as a dream of the originator that he would not give up on despite running into a few obstacles.
Moncrief first had to get the property for the music hall rezoned and was opposed in his quest by some of his neighbors. Next he had to apply for a non-profit status, which he received in October 2002. And then he had to raise funds for the project after reaching the limit of his personal resources.
Moncrief has invested $18,000 of his own funds into the opry, but he has no regrets.
The country music enthusiast said he learned to sing plowing behind a mule back in the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ days and always loved music. Moncrief and his wife Lois were drawn to family concerts such as Powersville and Swampland when they found themselves raising a grandson. The quest for something the three would enjoy together led them to music, and Moncrief occasionally performed at Powersville.
The demands of the weekly event has curtailed Moncrief’s trip to Powersville on Saturday night, but he said several of his patrons go to both.
Moncrief said the popularity of the other venue left him little doubt the Old Clinton Opry would be a success.
“I never thought it would fail, but I never really thought about the number of people that would attend,” he stated. “I saw a need for something like this in Jones County, and I feel like this is a way to give something back to the community.
Lois Moncrief can be found on Friday nights selling raffle tickets, and she appears to be enjoying the opry almost as much as her husband.
“I was surprised at the number of people we have every week,” she admitted. “I have made a lot of friends. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun to have a nice family-oriented place right here.”
The wife said she never doubted that her husband would achieve his goal and make the opry a reality.
“I had faith in Paul,” she said; “after 56 years you just do.”
Pews for the auditorium were donated by two churches, heating and air units were the gifts of two benefactors, and Moncrief’s church, Bradley Baptist, recently let him have used carpet for the stage, but he has supplied the labor.
He is currently working toward putting the last equipment in place to allow programs to be recorded.
When asked how long he plans to continue the opry, Moncrief, now 75, simply answered, “as long as I live. I hope I’ll be physically able to do this.”
