Pat and I flicked on our TV the other night and it was on Channel 4 in Oklahoma City. The show was being put on to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that famous auditorium that The Grand Ole Opry has been performing there since 1925. A radio station, WIN had won special rights at that time (in 1925) to “clear channel” broadcast this soon to become famous western music program. In 1943 the famous music site was moved to a new location (Rymon Auditorium) and later to its present location, presenting the most unique American Western music in the world.

As I sit here in my best chair I couldn’t help but think back on my happy memories about what I was seeing and hearing. The unique stars and special sounds took me back to a place in time and a living room in Centrahoma in about 1943. The time was a Saturday night. A very special time for my family. Saturday night was a time to relax and rest up from a hard week at work. Like many of that time we would make Saturday nights special and the radio was the center of our attention. Strange enough, we listened to special radio shows much like we watch TV. We tried to face the radio, staring into its dial just like we do TV these days. Except we didn’t know what TV was. Oh sure, my neighbor’s boy, Garvin Moore tried to explain what TV was and what it would be but he might as well have been talking to my old dog, Bingo.

This long ago night in 1943 was very special in several respects. It was Saturday night and we had special company coming over to help us listen to the Grand Old Opry. Ethel and Roy Byrd didn’t come to our house too often but they did this night. And it was to socialize and eat and visit and listen to the Opry. Their two sons, Roy and Troy, were in my grade at school and were my very best friends. Special treats, sort of rare in war time — treats like rationed Folgers coffee and sweets such as pies were made by my mom and Ethel.

My memories of the room are distinct and special. The corner of our living room was defined by two old couches, some sort of tables all designed and used to face my dad’s pride and joy — his big Zenith Console Radio. My brother Gerald swore the radio could make your teeth feel funny with its bass notes. And that always proved a great thing when listening to the great country artist that would be performing down in Nashville — and soon in our Centrahoma living room.

The ambiance of the little room would be changed when the music started. We (the kids) had to maintain a certain amount of “quiet” too and as I remember we did. We wanted to enjoy the special moments of great music too. The lights were turned off, and as I remember the glow from the big round Zenith radio dial provided the soft golden glow in this special room. A soft light that made everything very special. We kids quietened down even more when the show’s comedians came to the microphones. Minnie Pearl was my favorite and there were many others who are now just distant memories. All of the entertainers had all sorts of entertainment gimmicks that kept the kids in the listening room rolling.

It was a time when Roy Acuff singing his famous version of “Detour” that the adults put aside their worries about war rationing, family members fighting the war overseas and how much longer would it all last. Tonight was the Grand Old Opry. Its lush and favorite music gave us confidence that all was right in the world.

I didn’t know it that night but magic music and fellowship times such as these would soon pass. It seems that almost everyone in Centrahoma, would soon move away — including my own family. The old grocery store with the little apartment and its big radio would soon vanish in the dust bin of history. And with it most of Centrahoma, the town, its school and most of its churches. But I’ll always remember the Byrd family and their two boys and the happiness we enjoyed that long-ago Saturday night in a town called Centrahoma.

Have a good week and enjoy the moment of the time. And be sure to be in church Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail. com