Shooting of TV reporter hits clost to home

     As I sat in my home office this morning, I was shocked when the news came that two journalists for a Virginia television stations were killed while conducting a live interview for the station's morning news show.

     I had planned to catch up on some personal work but really have not been able to get my mind off these young people, both in their 20s, whose bright futures ended so abruptly as they were doing what appeared to be a positive feature about a business district.

     You might have seen the video and the look of horror on the face of Alison Parker, the young reporter, just before her life was senselessly taken.

     As someone who has made my living, or at least part of it, in journalism over half of my life, I hurt for the people involved. I never met either and have no ties other than being in the larger journalistic fraternity.

     But I can't say I was shocked. We live in a crazy, mixed up world in which anything goes and the deranged walk the streets with us.

     Even though I work for a small town newspaper, I have seen glimpses of the dangers of just doing this job.

     It is not uncommon to have my camera bag or brief case searched. At first, I thought it was kind of silly, but the fact is that anyone could be capable of lunacy. If someone does not know me personally, I now have no problem showing the security detail what I have with me. I don't have anything to hide.

     Over the years, I have witnessed people in the stands who give me reason to pause. While I have never felt threatened with serious injury while working the sidelines, I have seen people at games who appear unstable or so belligerent that I wonder if they are capable of serious violence.

     I won't go into details here. Let's just say it happens and most any journalist knows exactly what I mean.

     Journalists also receive e-mails or letters threatening varying degrees of ill will. While I believe most are from people who have had a bad day and really have not thought through what they say, you can never be too careful.

     Now we have seen tragedy on live TV.

     That makes it hit close to home.

Still singing after 40 years! Oak Ridge Boy Joe Bonsall talks about the fair, his book and my mom

(Note: The following column appeared in the Aug. 12 edition of The Anderson News. Joe Bonsall of The Oak Ridge Boys graciously gave of his time before the Oaks took the stage at Renfro Valley in June. We talked about 20 minutes and I found him to be very funny and engaging, down-to-earth and one who genuinely cares about people.)

Those who know me best think I only recognize two music groups: 1. The Oak Ridge Boys 2. Everybody else.

It's not quite that way, but it's close. What can I say?

I was attending Oak Ridge Boys' concerts before doing so was cool. I was listening to them when their hits were songs like “I Know” and “Jesus is the Man for the Hour.” A concert meant you got a chance to talk with them at a record table set up in a church foyer.

That was all a few years before the Kentucky State Fair made The Oaks as much a part of the annual lineup as Freddie Farm Bureau, handmade quilts and Hereford bulls.

Next Sunday, Aug. 23, will mark the 40^th straight year the Oak Ridge Boys will perform at the fair. I plan to be there, just like thousands of others from around the Commonwealth and it will be my 30^th Oak Ridge Boys' concert.

Unless, of course, I have not counted some of those all-night singings my mom used to attend when I was a little boy.

The Oak Ridge Boys sing at Renfro Valley in June.

The Oaks might have faded from the top of country music, but they routinely pack Cardinal Stadium for the annual concert that began when they opened for country singer Eddie Rabbitt. Even last year, several thousand people braved a steady rain for nearly two hours of those familiar hits that everyone had heard time and time again. It's a phenomenon that is just in the fabric of the Kentucky State Fair.

If you haven't seen The Oaks in Cardinal Stadium, then you really haven't been to the fair. There's never been anything like it, anywhere.

“It will never happen again in history,” says Oaks tenor Joe Bonsall. “I can't even imagine it happening with any act playing at the same venue that many times.”

I caught up with Bonsall when the Oak Ridge Boys made their annual trip to Renfro Valley back in June. He graciously gave some of his time to talk about The Oaks, the fair, his book, their latest CD and my mom.

Yes, my mom. Some of her story is mentioned in Bonsall's latest book, “On the Road with The Oak Ridge Boys.”

It all came about when the Oaks were going to perform at Renfro Valley in June of 2014. Early that Saturday morning, I took to Twitter saying something about heading to the concert that night and my mom being ready to sing “Elvira.” I thought nothing more about it.

About 90 minutes into the show, Bonsall, who sang lead on “Elvira” and serves as the group's master of ceremonies, said, “Where is John Herndon?”

Joe Bonsall and I chat about his career and about my mom.

Not knowing what was going on, I raised my hand. Joe grinned and said, “We don't need to talk to you. We just want to say hello to your mom.”

At that moment, all four of the Oaks moved across the stage to wave at her.

It was totally unexpected. And it made my mom's night.

The next day, I sent Bonsall a message thanking him for what he did and telling some of Mom's story and the fact she had suffered a stroke two years before. He got back with me, asking permission to use her story in his latest book, which was released earlier this year. For the record, the episode is found on pages 182-184 of the book.

I had told Bonsall about mom and her sister taking me to gospel concerts when I was a kid and that she had been a fan even before he joined the group. (Bonsall tells me a concert we attended at Louisville's Memorial Auditorium in 1973 was his second as a member of the Oaks.)

The book, which has countless behind the scenes stories, has a simple message and he references I Corinthians 13:1 as what drives him.

“I think if you live (one's faith), you let your light shine and people know,” Bonsall said. “In a book situation – I have done a lot of writing – if you are not going to bring a message of hope and faith, if you are not going to let your light shine, based on what you are doing, then the writing is a tinkling cymbal.”

Bonsall noted that when “Elvira” had everybody oom-boppa-maw-mawing in 1981, Twitter, Facebook and even e-mail were not around. “Back then, if John Herndon sent me a letter and said, 'My mom and me are going to be at a show. Would you dedicate this song to her?'

“I may have never seen it with all the mail we get at the office. … The reason you are in the book is it was a tremendous example of the difference in social networking. Now I can say, 'Hi,' to John Herndon's mom and do something meaningful for someone that maybe I would have missed before or we might have missed before.

“I thought your letter was beautiful. Your mom and your story was beautiful to me and your long-time coming to see the Oak Ridge Boys was meaningful to me. It was beautiful to me.”

Which is how millions of fans feel about the Oak Ridge Boys and their music. Whether one started listening when the group was singing “Jesus is Coming Soon,” or “Bobbie Sue,” the message has always been about faith, family and some old-fashioned American values.

“I think (the positive messages) are very big things and they are a reason for our longevity,” Bonsall said. “Middle America still comes out to see The Oak Ridge Boys. We are a clean group. We are the guys you see at the state fair. We are the guys you can see at Renfro Valley and bring your whole family.

“It is a fast-paced show with a lot of music and a lot of hit records. You won't be able to hear them all but we are going to give you a big dose of them. We are going to wave the flag a little bit and we are going to sing some gospel. That is just The Oak Ridge Boys and that is the way we do it.”

That flag-waving has earned the group numerous honors from veterans' groups over the years. Just last week, the group received the Bob Hope Award by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. It is the society's highest award for service to veterans in the entertainment industry and the group joined people such as actors Mark Wahlberg and Tom Selleck, the last two recipients of the award.

It's been a good year for the Oaks. They'll be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October, of which Bonsall says, “There is nothing bigger for the Oak Ridge Boys than to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame, where the circle will not be broken. It will be the four of us together, as it has been, as it will be and even after we are gone, it will be there still.”

They released a CD, “Rock of Ages,” filled with old hymns, too. “We put our heart and soul into that,” he said.

One day, the run at the fair will end. Bonsall is the young 'un of the group at 67. The other three singers – Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban – have all passed 70.

Still, Their non-stop energy on stage belies the calendar.

“After this Hall of Fame thing came down, one of the questions thrown at us was 'What do you do now?'

“We said, 'We sing. We are music men.’”

Those music men stay true to their roots.

“Not that much has changed,” Bonsall says. “The years have gone by and we are more experienced. We don't worry about things any more. When we were younger, we worried about this and that but we don't worry about a doggone thing anymore. We just pray that God gives us the help to do it.”

And the Oaks plan on being on Louisville in August as long as the Kentucky State Fair will keep booking them.

“I think to a man, the Oak Ridge Boys know what a legacy this has been and nobody wants to see it stop,” he says. “Nobody, in our hearts, wants to see it end.”

And neither does this fan.

More than 50 shows for man with Anderson ties
            John Blakeman still remembers that first time he saw an Oak Ridge Boys’ concert.
            “It was the Oaks and the Sego Brothers and Naomi. What a pair!” says Blakeman, a Louisville resident whose parents grew up in Anderson County.
            Blakeman still keeps up with what is going on in Lawrenceburg through Twitter and has family in Anderson County.
            Blakeman was 15 years old when his mother took him to Memorial Auditorium for that show in October, 1974. When the legendary group hits the Kentucky State Fair next Sunday, Blakeman plans to be there, taking in a show from his favorite group. He says he’s already done so over 50 times.
           Since the Oaks started making an annual appearance at the fair 40 years ago, Blakeman says he has missed the Country Music Hall of Famers only a handful of times.
           His reasons for making the annual trip to Cardinal Stadium are similar to what Oak Ridge Boy Joe Bonsall believes is the reason for the group’s incredible longevity.
          “They are upbeat,” Blakeman said. “They sing happy songs. They sing about our faith and our freedom as Americans.”