Appalfolks of America Association (AAA) founder of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s official Opry, The Virginia Opry, has launched its 2022 Giving Tree Fund Drive that will conclude on Mighty Cause’s Giving Tues., Nov. 29.
At AAA’s board of directors meeting in Aug., the decision was made to discontinue the Annual Fall Harvest Fund Drive that the nonprofit organization had held for several years and replace it with the Giving Tree Fund Drive that had previously been held in December.
AAA was founded in 1985 in Clifton Forge as a nonprofit organization with its mission to promote the literary and performing arts in Southern Appalachia in general and the Alleghany Highlands specifically.
By 1991, the organization along with Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) had received recognition from the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors for establishing the Alleghany Highlands Literacy Volunteers, a program under the umbrella of TAP. The Supervisors designated both organizations as the official literacy agency in the Alleghany Highlands.
After TAP’s building burned down in Roanoke, AAA held a musical benefit concert for TAP and donated $500 to the nonprofit organization, and AAA was instrumental in helping TAP apply for and receive a $29,000 grant for its GED program.
On Dec. 20, 1991, R-C Theatres’ President John Wayne Anderson handed the keys to the Historic Masonic Theatre (named the Historic Stonewall Theatre at the time) to AAA as a charitable donation from R-C Theatres’ owner Irwin R. Cohen.
The theatre had been appraised for $125,000 for its historic value and $75,000 for its commercial value.
AAA spent 12 years developing performing arts programs that performed in the theatre, and by 2003, AAA had made more than $200,000 of restoration improvements at the theatre, including $25,000 on the restrooms to bring the theatre into ADA compliance.
A grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s historical funds for $30,000 was awarded to AAA via the help of Delegate Malford “Bo” Trumbo, and AAA received a $130,000 matching grant from The Alleghany Foundation that required AAA to raise $39,000. AAA received funds for the $39,000 match from donors in several states. More than half of the funds raised came from outside the Alleghany Highlands, including $2,000 from donors in Calif. and more than $5,000 from Ky. donors.
The programs that AAA formed were The Stonewall Children’s Theatre, The Stonewall Players, The Clifton Forge Players, The Southern Gospel Revue, The Virginia Opry, The Junior Virginia Opry and STARS. All performed in the theatre that featured a professional dance studio on the top floor and a 520-seat auditorium on the street level.
After AAA donated the theatre to the Town of Clifton Forge in 2003, AAA’s STARS, The Virginia Opry and the Junior Virginia Opry continued to perform in the theatre where AAA occupied an office until the theatre closed for a complete restoration in 2010 by the Masonic Theatre Preservation Foundation (MTPF). The theatre opened again in July of 2016.
The Town of Clifton Forge continues to own the theatre that it has leased to the MTPF for $1 per year for 100 years. The theatre is under the management of MTPF.
AAA moved out of the theatre in May of 2019 and has rented the former WXCF Radio Station Building at 1047 Ingalls St. in Clifton Forge.
The Virginia Opry continues to rent the theatre for some of its performances, but since being designated as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s official Opry on March 31, 2020, The Virginia Opry has performed many of its shows at other venues, including the Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center, The River Rock Amphitheatre in Covington and Lime Kiln Arts Theater.
STARS no longer performs at the theatre, and the troupe of 30 performers who face intellectual challenges and/or physical disabilities has held its performances at the Good News Church on Main in Covington since its last show at the theatre in June of 2021. Two more STARS shows will be held there, one in Sept. and one in Dec.
The Town of Clifton Forge’s Town Council has voted 5-0 to designate the Town of Clifton Forge as the “Home of The Virginia Opry,” and WKEY Radio Station’s 103.5 Big Country announces 12 times daily that the station is the proud home of “The Commonwealth of Virginia’s official Opry, The Virginia Opry.”
The Virginia Opry has a history of performing benefits for worthwhile causes, and three members of the troupe that has grown from the original 10 to 59 who comprise 10 bands were performing with The Virginia Opry when it made its debut at the theatre on Oct. 17, 1992.
Some of the organizations that have benefited from AAA’s musical benefits are the 9/11 Fund, Children’s Miracle Network, Clifton Forge Little League, Alleghany Highlands Free Clinic, Clifton Forge Public Library, Total Action Against Poverty (TAP), The Salvation Army, Wounded Warrior Project and Literacy Volunteers of the Alleghany Highlands.
The next benefit that The Virginia Opry will perform will be held at the Jackson River Sports Complex’s River Rock Amphitheatre where the “Keith Bryant Showcase” will be held on Sat., Oct. 1, at 6:00 p.m. with Glen Shelton as emcee. The show will benefit Tunnel to Towers. The Virginia Opry held a benefit there on June 21 and raised $3,500 for the widow of fallen Covington Police Officer Caleb Ogilvie.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Giving Tree Fund Drive may make a check payable to Appalfolks of America and mail it to Appalfolks, P.O. Box 613, Clifton Forge, VA 24422. Each donation is tax-deductible to the full extent of what the law allows because AAA is a 501 ( c ) 3 nonprofit organization.
AAA received recognition in “Encyclopedia of Appalachia,” a 2006 publication by the University of Tennessee Press, for achieving good work with Appalachia’s youth.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.