A 25th anniversary show for The Oaklawn Opry on Feb. 11 will prove bittersweet for its musicians and patrons.
After a quarter-century of providing weekly opry entertainment to the Four States Area, The Oaklawn Opry will close its doors following the upcoming anniversary celebration. Oaklawn Opry owner Henry Matthews, also a member of the venue's house band, says the decline in crowd size, among other reasons, motivated the decision to close.
Week after week, The Oaklawn Opry has been home for traditional country music with a lineup of talented locals and visitors performing on its auditorium stage.
"We've had a great run. This is not a defeat. This is victory," Matthews said.
Now, he said, it's time to hang it up and enjoy life. He cited getting older himself as another reason to close. Also getting older have been his patrons at the Opry. Before it became a music venue, the building operated as a movie theater there in the Oaklawn Village shopping center.
Expect some of the longtime performers to appear at the anniversary show. "We're having just oodles of guests," Matthews said. "Most of them have been our older people who've been on the show 25 years." They're audience favorites, these musicians and singers.
"We're probably going to have about 30 guests on that show," Matthews said.
As proprietor, he's seen the audience dwindle. "I think the times are just changing. We play the older, traditional country music and some Top 40 stuff," he said. Attracting a younger audience has proven difficult, and some of the Oaklawn Opry's longtime regulars aren't able to make it out anymore. Also, there's entertainment competition.
"So much is going on now, and just times have changed," Matthews said.
Traditionally, they've been open every Saturday night, apart from a couple weeks around Christmas. Matthews recalled that when the remnants of Hurricane Katrina came through they even stayed open that night.
With its 560-seat auditorium, The Oaklawn Opry opened in 1992, he said, under the ownership of Hollis Gentry and Chad Blue. Matthews, who plays steel guitar and the fiddle, took it over two years later. He'd already been a member of the house band.
"Our opry has been one of the most popular oprys in the Four States Area for the singers to come to," Matthews said. It's because they're laid back there at the Oaklawn. "They have driven from Oklahoma City, Dallas, everywhere to be on our show."
He said patrons don't like the news of Oaklawn Opry's closure, but they have been understanding. Little opry shows used to happen at many towns in the region, but only a couple remain, he said, some performing only monthly.
Matthews recalls seeing the original "Star Wars" movie there when the building operated as a movie theater. And he recalls that opening night for the Opry saw a crowd that filled to capacity with more who wanted to attend. He says they turned away more than 100 people that night, a line stretching past Shorty's Diner.
Reservations are required for the 25th anniversary show on Feb. 11. Show starts at 7 p.m. Performers scheduled to attend include Joe Mack Bennett, Melodie Clemmons, Klancy Johnson, Jimmy Lewis, Rhonda Neal, Lonnie Doss, Melissa Jaynes and many others.
(The Oaklawn Opry is located at 2729 New Boston Road, Suite 124, in Texarkana, Texas. For more information, visit OaklawnOpry.info or call 903-838-3333.)